Rishi Sunak appears poised to become the next U.K. prime minister

Rishi Sunak meets supporters as he arrives to attend a Conservative Party leadership election hustings at the NEC, Birmingham, England, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. (Rui Vieira/AP)

Rui Vieira / Rui Vieira

Rishi Sunak ran for Britain’s top job and lost. Now he has another shot — and the chance to say “I told you so.”

The former U.K. Treasury chief was runner-up to Liz Truss in the contest to replace the scandal-plagued Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and prime minister. But Truss quit after a turbulent 45-day term, and Johnson has abandoned a comeback attempt, leaving Sunak a strong favorite to finally assume the office he missed out on less than two months ago.

Victory in the Conservative leadership contest would be vindication for Sunak, who warned in the last campaign that Truss’ tax-cutting economic plans were reckless and would cause havoc. And so they did.