Will Rishi Sunak make history on September 5 and become UK’s new prime minister?

Due to her mobility concerns, Queen Elizabeth will defy convention and choose to pick the new prime minister of the United Kingdom at her Balmoral Castle residence in Scotland rather than at Buckingham Palace in London.

On September 5, the outcome of the race for the position of Conservative Party leader to succeed Johnson will be made public. According to polls, Truss is the undisputed front-runner. However, it’s never over until it’s over. At least, Rishi Sunak would like to believe so.

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On September 6, the queen will visit Balmoral, where she spends her summers, and meet outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his yet-to-be-chosen successor. Will that successor be Sunak? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak thanked his parents and wife Akshata Murty for their support at the final hustings before the conclusion of the election for a new Conservative Party leader and British prime minister. In the midst of raucous applause and cries of "Rishi, Rishi," the Indian-origin former chancellor addressed a packed concert venue at Wembley in London on August 31 night.

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“This final hustings is special for me because the two people who inspired me to enter public service are actually here tonight – my mum and dad,” said Sunak. “It was their example of service and what they did for people that inspired me to enter politics. Mum, dad thank you for always sacrificing and striving to provide a better life for your kids than you had. And, thank you for teaching me that with hard work and belief and the love of your family there is no limit to what someone can achieve in our great country.”

For this audience, at least, it was clear that Sunak was the winner of the race to succeed Boris Johnson due to the sharp contrast between his enthusiastic welcome and that of his rival, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

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The 42-year-old Tory MP for Richmond in Yorkshire spoke of his "incredible, loving, kind wife," the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and writer Sudha Murty.

“You know what you mean to me, and I am incredibly grateful that 18 years ago you chose to give up your high heels and take a chance on the short kid with a backpack,” he said.

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Sunak reaffirmed his key message before formally concluding his campaign, saying that he would combat inflation before implementing any tax cuts, in contrast to Truss, who ran on a platform of lowering taxes right once as the new prime minister.

Truss has previously said that she did not believe handouts were the best way to help households through the cost-of-living squeeze, and that she favoured cutting taxes, something her rival Sunak and many economists have said would not help poorer families much.

(With agency inputs)