History was made in the United Kingdom on Monday as it became clear that Rishi Sunak will be the nation’s next prime minister. According to Axios, Sunak has emerged today as the winner of a Conservative Party leadership contest, as other rivals have dropped out. 

Sunak, who will replace Liz Truss after her six-week tenure at 10 Downing Street, will be both the first person of color and of South Asian descent to serve as prime minister. At forty-two, Sunak is also the youngest prime minister ever appointed to the office and the youngest overall in two centuries.  

Former prime minister Boris Johnson, who resigned earlier this year, had launched a bid to return but failed to gain enough support, leaving Sunak and Penny Mordaunt as the final candidates. Mordaunt dropped out of the contest Monday. 

The new prime minister will be in place by Friday, per CNN. 

“The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis. That’s why I am standing to be Leader of the Conservative Party and your next Prime Minister. I want to fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country,” Sunak said on Twitter this week. “There will be integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level of the government I lead and I will work day in and day out to get the job done.”

Sunak will be the fourth prime minister from the Conservative Party since David Cameron’s resignation following the Brexit vote in 2016. Sunak, who served as chancellor of the exchequer under Johnson, had sought the top spot in the previous contest, which Truss won. 

Truss was the country’s shortest-serving prime minister in history and resigned after her economic program of aggressive tax cuts caused a run on the pound. 

“I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said when she stepped down. 

The next general election isn’t scheduled until 2024, but the opposing Labour Party called for it to arrive sooner. 

“This is doing huge damage to our economy and the reputation of our country,” Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said following Truss’ resignation. “We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.”

Sunak had also tweeted about Johnson’s potential candidacy. 

“Boris Johnson delivered Brexit and the great vaccine roll-out. He led our country through some of the toughest challenges we have ever faced, and then took on Putin and his barbaric war in Ukraine. We will always be grateful to him for that,” he tweeted. “Although he has decided not to run for PM again, I truly hope he continues to contribute to public life at home and abroad.”

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters.