Rishi Sunak WINS: But Twitter Suggests He Would LOSE a General Election

24 October 2022 — The fate of the United Kingdom came down to the battle of three hashtags and was decided swiftly whether the public was ready or not.

Was the UK ready for Rishi Sunak, or was it Penny Mordaunt for prime minister, and what about bringing back Boris Johnson?

The answer became apparent in the last 24 hours when #BringBackBoris came to a screeching halt as the prime minister from 48 days ago backed out of the race.

As the deadline to submit nomination papers approached on Monday, Mordaunt released a statement just one minute before saying she would support Sunak, leaving only one option — Britain will have its first prime minister of Indian descent. 

How it happened …

Despite strong support from fellow MPs, Boris Johnson released a statement Sunday night confirming he won’t run because it would “not be the right thing to do” at this time.

However, the former PM made clear intentions about running in 2024, confidently saying, “I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024.”

Johnson had reached out to Sunak and Mordaunt in an attempt to gather their support and “come together in the national interest,” but neither was interested — both had their sights set on the top spot.

Former Chancellor Sunak took to Twitter to announce his intention to become prime minister and “fix” the economy. Rishi praised Boris, saying, “Boris Johnson delivered Brexit and the great vaccine roll-out,” and hopes the former PM will continue to “contribute to public life.”

After Johnson’s withdrawal, Sunak’s odds of becoming PM shot to 97%, according to OddsChecker, with bookmakers all but certainly predicting a #Ready4Rishi victory. The only other alternative, Penny Mordaunt, trailed at 10% with bookmakers.

But Twitter told a different story… 

When the #BringBackBoris hashtag died a quick death — Mordaunt’s #PM4PM had approximately double the mentions compared to #Ready4Rishi. Then comparing the two social media movements over the last seven days, #Ready4Rishi’s 1.9 thousand likes gets obliterated by Mordaunt’s 67.4 thousand, suggesting that in a general election, the Conservative party would be wiser to pick Penny Mordaunt based on public opinion.

But why was Rishi Sunak the favorite?

The former chancellor was the frontrunner because the PM would not be chosen via a general election. For the second time, the Conservative party made the decision. Previously, in a race where Penny Mordaunt was eliminated earlier, Sunak was the close second to Liz Truss. However, this time Sunak scored an easy victory. 

Whether the public is ready for Rishi or not, Sunak is heading to No.10.