Sunak declares fresh bid for British PM

British Conservative Rishi Sunak yesterday announced he is standing to be prime minister, just weeks after failing in a first attempt — and setting up a potentially bruising battle with his former boss Boris Johnson.Ex-finance minister Sunak vowed “integrity, professionalism and accountability” and to lead Britain out of “profound economic crisis”, which experts say has been worsened by the aborted policies of outgoing leader Liz Truss. “I want to fix our economy, unite our party and deliver for our country,” he said in a short statement posted on Twitter confirming his widely expected candidacy.The no-frills announcement contrasted with his last failed bid to be Tory leader, when he faced criticism for a slickly produced video launched just days after he had helped depose ex-prime minister Johnson by resigning in July.Sunak, 42, is the second Conservative MP to declare a run at the top job, after cabinet member Penny Mordaunt launched her campaign on Friday.Johnson is anticipated to enter the likely week-long contest, after he cut short a Caribbean holiday to return to Britain on Saturday and attempt an audacious political comeback less than two months after leaving office.The 58-year-old is said to be intensely lobbying Conservative colleagues ahead of a today afternoon deadline to secure the 100 nominations required to face a vote of the Tories’ 357 MPs.Sunak has raced ahead in that count, crossing the minimum threshold Friday and currently boasting the public backing of 146 Tory lawmakers, according to a BBC tally.That compares to Johnson’s 57 and 23 for Mordaunt, though the ex-leader’s allies insist he has secured the 100 nominations.“Boris’s campaign tell me that they have the numbers,” Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told the broadcaster. “Clearly, he is going to stand. There is a great deal of support for him.”The Tories have been forced into a second, this time expedited, leadership contest since the summer following Truss’s resignation after only 44 disastrous days into her tenure over her calamitous tax-slashing mini-budget.If two candidates remain after Conservative lawmakers vote today, the party’s approximately 170,000 members will make their choice, with the result announced on Friday.Johnson, who only relinquished power in early September following a government revolt over a slew of scandals, is still seen as the grassroots’ favourite.Amid growing calls for unity within the fractured ruling party, he and Sunak held talks late into the night, reports said yesterday, as the feuding political heavyweights battle behind the scenes.