boris johnson

Sunak, who supported Brexit during the 2016 referendum, earned millions in finance before politics, and his Indian wife Akshata Murty's father co-founded the IT giant Infosys.

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak cemented his lead over rivals to become Britain's next prime minister on Thursday in an increasingly bitter race to replace Boris Johnson.

Margaret Thatcher has not been in power since 1990.

Conservative lawmakers will vote on Wednesday to narrow the field of eight candidates hoping to succeed Boris Johnson as party leader and prime minister, as rival camps trade barbs in an increasingly fractious contest for the leadership.

Johnson is staying on in Downing Street as prime minister until the internal party contest finds his successor. The result is due on September 5.

In the UK, the party system has emerged such that the leader of the victorious party in an election typically is invited to form a government.

Promises of tax cuts from candidates to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pose another inflationary risk which could pressure the Bank of England to raise interest rates more aggressively, cancelling out any potential boost to the economy.

Nominations will officially open and close on Tuesday, with a new prime minister set to be installed when parliament returns from the summer break

Johnson announced his resignation as party chief on Thursday, after a cabinet uprising over scandals culminating in his appointment of an ally with a history of sexual assault allegations to a senior role.

British former finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday he was running to replace Boris Johnson, three days after helping to launch the cascade of resignations that brought the prime minister down.

The likely months-long campaign, potentially pitting more than a dozen Conservative MPs and multiple factions of the ruling party against each another, is set to be formalised Monday.

The early favourite is former finance minister Rishi Sunak, who launched his campaign Friday after helping to kickstart the cabinet revolt that led to Johnson's forced resignation

The contest to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered pace on Sunday as five more candidates declared their intention to run, with many pledging lower taxes and a clean start from Johnson's scandal-ridden premiership.

UK political resignations: the current uncertainty could affect the economy for nearly two years

Item A on next British PM's agenda: inflation crisis

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Johnson to express his "sadness" over his resignation.

Russian politicians lined up to celebrate the downfall of Boris Johnson on Thursday, casting the British leader as a "stupid clown" who had finally got his just reward for arming Ukraine against Russia.

While the European Commission publicly dodged commenting about the political upheaval in the UK, others in Brussels' orbit let loose.

The resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson deepens the uncertainty hanging over Britain's economy, already under strain from an inflation rate heading for double digits, the risk of a recession and Brexit.

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson had a conventional rise to power for a Conservative politician: first the elite Eton College, then Oxford University.

Britain faces an unsustainable debt burden more than three times its current level unless future governments raise taxes to fund increasing costs from an ageing population and falling revenue from taxation on motor fuel, a watchdog warned on Thursday.

Former British Prime Minister John Major said Boris Johnson should be replaced immediately rather than be allowed to remain as a caretaker leader because his cabinet may struggle to "restrain him", amid wider calls for him to be removed now.

Boris Johnson will announce his resignation as British Prime Minister on Thursday, a government source said, after he was abandoned by ministers and his Conservative Party's lawmakers who said he was no longer fit to govern.

Within a little over 24 hours, 43 ministers and their Tory MP aides had quit, mostly from more junior positions outside the cabinet, while Gove was sacked.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was clinging to power on Wednesday, after ministers quit the cabinet following a scandal over whether Johnson's office told the truth about sexual harassment allegations against a lawmaker.

Britain's new finance minister Nadhim Zahawi pledged on Wednesday to rebuild and grow the struggling economy and said he would look at all policy options, including possible tax cuts.

British markets braced for more political uncertainty on Wednesday, with investors keen to see if the new finance minister loosens the purse strings and wondering whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson will survive an exodus of support.

Sterling slumped against to a two-year low against the dollar on Tuesday as a crisis in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government compounded pressure on a currency already reeling from recession fears and a resurgent greenback.

Britain's finance and health ministers resigned in quick succession on Tuesday, in moves that put the future of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in peril after a series of scandals that have damaged his administration.

The resignations -- after a succession of crises that led to a vote of confidence in Johnson's leadership -- did nothing to dampen speculation that both men still have an eye on the top job.