Will he or won’t he? is the big question on the minds of Indian-origin Britishers as there is a tight tussle between former chancellor of exchequer Rishi Sunak and former foreign minister LI Truss for the job of Britain’s prime minister.
Sunak happens to be popular as ‘moneybags’ and has emerged as a favorite in the voting of Conservative MPs. Yet, he will be facing an uphill task as 1,75,000 Conservative party members have the final say over his leadership.
To make matters tough, reports show that Truss was far ahead of Sunak with a 24-point lead among Tory grassroots. However, as in politics elsewhere, the members’ opinions can be volatile, and Sunak has six weeks of campaigning ahead of him to turn the tide in his favor.
The first stage of the battle was fought over five tough rounds in the House of Commons. While Sunak led the way and finished with 137 MPs backing him, it was an impressive lead when compared to Truss’ 113.
However, the big point of debate is can Sunak make it to the coveted post and create history by being the first non-white ethnic minority and becoming the first British-Asian prime minister? Another prominent Asian businessman Lord Karan Billimoria, who owns the popular Cobra beer in UK, had already predicted that Britain would have an Asian prime minister during his lifetime way back in 2003.
Britishers ruled over us for many centuries, and it would be interesting to see if an Indian could rule over the British this time and will he take some revenge on them for exploiting us in those years of their rule.
Britain and Indian-origin British wait anxiously as the winner of the post will be declared on September 5.
