The race to replace Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and the British prime minister entered the final countdown stage on Friday, when voting officially closes for Tory members to choose between former chancellor Rishi Sunak or Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Johnson now expressed his willingness to enter the PM race, saying he is "up for it."
Johnson's longstanding policy chief Munira Mirza, chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, and communications director Jack Doyle all left their posts within hours of each other on Thursday, days after a damning investigation revealed that multiple parties took place at Downing Street while the rest of the United Kingdom was living under strict COVID-19 lockdown rules.
A new kind of history has been created in Maharashtra. Accept it. We need to give credit where it's due. Modi led this change... from the setback of June 4 to November 23, notes Sheela Bhatt.
The Labour Party in the UK secured 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons in the general elections.
Following is the chronology of the main events illustrating Sunak's second shot at UK prime minister's post.
On Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II will invite Truss to become Britain's third lady prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
British Indian former Cabinet minister Rishi Sunak maintained his lead as the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and next UK prime minister widened on Sunday with a total of nine candidates in the fray, with Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt emerging as an early second favourite.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
A newly painted mural in the Belfast city centre, Northern Ireland, soon after Liz was declared the winner.
Will Empire strike back to prevent a game changing election result, asks T P Sreenivasan.
Britain's third female prime Minister, Liz Truss, was out of office on Thursday after the shortest tenure at 10 Downing Street in London and without a cherished India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) under her belt as a Brexit prize.
The British Indian former Chancellor received 118 votes in the fourth round of voting by his party colleagues, just shy of the 120-mark.
The Cabinet minister pulled out of the interview hours before it was to air on Tuesday evening, with her team saying she could no longer spare the time.
Liz Truss, the British foreign secretary, who has a huge lead over her rival Rishi Sunak, seems a shoo-in to travel to Balmoral Castle in Scotland next week to meet Queen Elizabeth II, the first time ever the monarch will ask a politician to form a government away from Buckingham Palace, her home in London.
In an address from the lectern on the steps of 10 Downing Street on a rainy London evening, Britain's first Prime Minister of Indian heritage confirmed a summer poll in six weeks' time and that the Parliament would soon be dissolved after he formally informed King Charles III of the election timeline.
Glimpses from Liz's truncated reign as prime minister.
'He is the only president, the only American politician, who had the guts to stand with Hindus.'
'What my Labour government will seek with India is a relationship based on our shared values of democracy and aspiration. That will seek a free trade agreement (FTA), we share that ambition, but also a new strategic partnership for global security, climate security, economic security'
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday came under fresh pressure on the reappointment of Indian-origin Suella Braverman as home secretary after two Conservative MPs questioned his decision, days after she quit over data breaches.
If elected, 42-year-old Sunak will go on to make history as the first Prime Minister of the UK of Indian heritage.
The crux of the UK prime ministerial frontrunner Rishi Sunak's message was around honesty as he clashed with his four remaining rivals in the first televised debate of the race to replace Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader.
... resulting in a Rs 2 trillion economic spinoff.
'As far as skilled immigration is concerned, the US needs Indian skills and Indian talent, and there are no two opinions about it even among US companies.'
The 42-year-old British Indian politician acknowledges "playing catch-up" to Liz Truss in the race as he continues his campaign tour of the UK to win over Conservative Party members' votes.
Some British Hindus have taken to social media to voice their objections over a lack of proper consultation ahead of a Diwali reception hosted by Prime Minister Keir Stramer at 10 Downing Street in London, where reportedly non-vegetarian snacks and alcohol were included on the menu.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday finally agreed to step down as Conservative Party leader, triggering a leadership election for a new Tory leader who will go on to become the new premier, according to reports from Downing Street.
In an accompanying vision statement, the former finance minister highlighted his track record of serving in the Cabinet, helping to steer the economy through the toughest of times with the COVID pandemic.
Rishi Sunak has revealed that his former boss, Boris Johnson, has not returned any of his messages and calls since he resigned from his cabinet as chancellor, implying tension between the duo as the British Indian former minister battles it out in a tough race to be elected the next leader of the UK's governing Conservative Party.
Labour Leader Keir Starmer told a gathering of hundreds of British Indians that he was determined to put an end to 'divisive politics' and extremist elements exploiting social media to spread hatred within communities.
Navendu Mishra (Stockport) and Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) were among the other Labour MPs re-elected with convincing majorities.
Rishi Sunak, one of the finalists in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative party and Britain's prime minister, is campaigning hard to win over the Tory faithful who will vote from today, July 28, to August 31 to elect their next leader.
Newly-elected Conservative Party leader and prime minister in waiting Liz Truss is among the senior British politicians known for championing deeper India-UK strategic and economic ties, describing them as a "sweet spot" of global trade dynamics.
The 47-year-old senior cabinet minister was widely expected to become the third female British Prime Minister after 170,000 online and postal votes cast by Tory members, ending Sunak's historic run as the first member of Parliament of Indian heritage to compete for the top job at 10 Downing Street.
Shigeru Ishiba is expected to prioritise strengthening Japan's military capabilities and fostering deeper international partnerships, particularly with India, with whom Japan shares significant strategic interests, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
China has approved the construction of the world's largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, close to the Indian border. The USD 137 billion project, which is expected to dwarf even China's own Three Gorges Dam, has raised concerns in India and Bangladesh, the downstream riparian states. Concerns in India are centered around China's potential to control water flow, potentially enabling the release of large amounts of water to flood border areas in times of hostilities. The dam is part of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, and the Chinese government claims that the project is safe and prioritizes ecological protection.
The manifesto also commits Labour to constitute a judge-led inquiry into Britain's "injustices of the past", including a public review of the country's role in Operation Blue Star -- referred to as the "Amritsar massacre".
That a brown skinned man -- albeit one who speaks with a posh English accent -- would one day be the front-runner in a race to elect Boris's successor and head the party once led by Churchill and Thatcher would seem indigestible to the white men and women who have formed the trunk of the Conservative party for generations.
Britain's Prime Minister-elect Liz Truss will spend Monday putting finishing touches to her new cabinet after being elected Conservative Party leader and is expected to unleash a complete shake up of outgoing leader Boris Johnson's top team.
Rishi Sunak on Tuesday scripted history when he was appointed by King Charles III as Britain's first Indian-origin prime minister after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party on Diwali.
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