Former finance minister Rishi Sunak will be the United Kingdom’s next prime minister after seeing off his lone remaining rival in the fast-tracked race to become Conservative party leader on Monday.
The other potential candidate, Penny Mordaunt, conceded after failing to meet the threshold of nominations from lawmakers required to progress to the next stage of the race. Moments before the number of nominations were due to be announced, Mordaunt pledged her full support to Sunak.
Sunak will become the first person of colour and the first Hindu to lead the UK. At 42, he is also the youngest person to take the office in more than 200 years.
He is set to replace Liz Truss, who will become the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history. Sunak will become prime minister once he is officially appointed by King Charles III and will be the first prime minister appointed by the new King following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September.
It is not clear when the King will host audiences at Buckingham Palace to accept the resignation of Truss and appoint her successor.
CNN understood that the King was traveling to London from the private royal estate of Sandringham on Monday afternoon, as had always been his plan, but it remains unclear when he will host the audiences with Truss and Sunak.
(CNN)