Rishi Sunak: Batley and Spen Labour MP ‘congratulates’ the new Conservative Prime Minister

Today (Monday) Mr Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, won the Conservative Party leadership race and is now the Prime Minister of the UK.

Rival Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the Tory leadership race, leaving Mr Sunak the sole candidate for the role.

Following the announcement, Ms Leadbeater said: “Despite our many political differences, I congratulate Rishi Sunak on becoming Prime Minister, the third holder of that post in as many months.

“The country is facing enormous challenges and the government has been paralysed for too long by the chaos in the Conservative Party. The disastrous mini budget and the loss of confidence in the handling of the economy has pushed up the cost of living, interest rates and inflation, and my constituents in Batley and Spen have been paying the price.

“While it is welcome to see Britain’s first Prime Minister with a British Asian background, regrettably Mr Sunak has no mandate from the people of my constituency or the rest of the UK who have once again been excluded from the process.

“The job is too important for the Conservatives to keep switching amongst themselves every time the incumbent fails. As always, my concern is for the best interests of the people of Batley and Spen.

“I will be writing to Mr Sunak, as a Yorkshire MP himself, asking him to tackle the failure to level up the country as promised and to provide the investment my constituents so desperately need.”