Conservatives in the North East have called for unity after Rishi Sunak was named the next Prime Minister, but have been accused by Labour of treating the nation’s highest offices as “tombola prizes” as demands for a general election grow.
Mr Sunak won the backing of Tory MPs to succeed Liz Truss on Monday afternoon, with Boris Johnson having abandoned his comeback bid and Penny Mordaunt also dropping out of the race after failing to get enough support. The former Chancellor will become the first British Asian to take the country’s top job and will be the youngest PM for more than 200 years at the age of 42.
After a chaotic few weeks that brought a swift end to Ms Truss’ premiership, Tories in the North East issued a plea for unity. Guy Opperman, Conservative MP for Hexham and backer of Mr Sunak, called him a “serious person for serious times”, while fellow supporter Paul Howell, the MP for Sedgefield, said the new PM “has what it takes to provide the strong leadership we need and steer the country through some very challenging times”.
