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London \u2013 Rishi Sunak will be Britain\u2019s next prime minister after his rivals quit the race, following one of the most turbulent periods in British political history.<\/p>\n
Following are latest events, comments and context:<\/p>\n
POLITICS<\/strong><\/p>\n * Sunak, the 42-year-old former finance minister, will become Britain\u2019s third prime minister in less than two months.<\/p>\n * His predecessor Liz Truss was brought down after just six weeks in office by her economic programme which roiled financial markets, pushed up living costs for voters and enraged much of her own party.<\/p>\n * Boris Johnson, who was ousted as prime minister by his lawmakers in July, was aiming to make what would have been an extraordinary political comeback, before quitting the race.<\/p>\n * Former defence minister Penny Mordaunt had also joined the contest to become the country\u2019s fifth prime minister in six years.<\/p>\n * Sunak, one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, will become prime minister when invited to form a government by King Charles.<\/p>\n * A former Goldman Sachs analyst, Sunak will be the United Kingdom\u2019s first prime minister of Indian origin.<\/p>\n * He is tasked with steering the country through an economic crisis and mounting anger among some voters.<\/p>\n * A nationwide election need not be called for another two years, but opposition parties said voters should now be given a say.<\/p>\n * The opposition Labour Party leads the government by more than 30 points in some opinion polls.<\/p>\n MARKETS<\/strong><\/p>\n * The pound and British government bond prices jumped briefly on news that Sunak was the only remaining candidate, but soon returned to their previous levels.<\/p>\n ECONOMY<\/strong><\/p>\n * British shoppers cut their spending sharply in September while public borrowing grew by more than expected, underscoring the challenge facing finance minister Jeremy Hunt.<\/p>\n * Hunt reiterated on Friday that the government will do \u201cwhatever is necessary\u201d to drive down debt in the medium term.<\/p>\n WHAT\u2019S BEHIND THE CRISIS?<\/strong><\/p>\n * Britain\u2019s financial markets were plunged into turmoil on September 23 after then-new finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng announced billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts.<\/p>\n * The Bank of England was forced into emergency bond-buying to stem a sharp sell-off in Britain\u2019s $2.3 trillion government bond market that threatened to wreak havoc in the pension industry and increase recession risks.<\/p>\n * Kwarteng\u2019s replacement Jeremy Hunt on Monday scrapped \u201cnearly all\u201d of the economic plan and scaled back Truss\u2019s vast energy support scheme, announced in September, in a historic U-turn to try restore investor confidence.<\/p>\n * The BoE interventions have highlighted a growing segment of Britain\u2019s pensions sector \u2013 liability-driven investment.<\/p>\n