Rishi Sunak among the two final candidates for UK PM
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Indian-origin British politician Rishi Sunak is now one of the two final candidates in the race for the UK Prime Minister's position. The former chancellor received 137 votes from his Conservative Party colleagues in the final round today.
However, he is likely to face tougher competition from the electorate of the Tory membership base. His opponent Liz Truss has performed well in the recent surveys.
Sunak and Truss are scheduled for another televised debate on BBC on Monday.
The 42-year-old conservative party politician said that the leadership contest is about more than just being the leader of our party, it's about becoming the custodian of our United Kingdom. He had launched his campaign by talking about his family's migration story in the 1960s.
In a recent live debate, he addressed the remarks about his wife's billionaire parents who own one of India's biggest IT firms Infosys. He said he is "incredibly proud" of what his parents-in-law built.
He added that Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy came from absolutely nothing and started the business using the savings his wife Sudha Murty provided. "He went on to build one of the world's largest, most respected, most successful companies that by the way employs thousands of people here in the United Kingdom."
Sunak called it a conservative story that he is really proud of. "As Prime Minister, I want to ensure that we can create more stories like theirs here at home."
Speaking about his party's stand on tax, he said: "I will get taxes down in this Parliament, but I'm going to do so responsibly. I don't cut taxes to win elections, I win elections to cut taxes." The Conservative Party membership base is known for favouring low-tax. Sunak has been firm on focusing on inflation and not tax cuts.
