London: Priti Patel, a loyalist of former British prime minister Boris Johnson, on Monday came out in support of Rishi Sunak to take over at 10 Downing Street as the Conservative Party leader after her former boss withdrew from the leadership contest.
The Indian-origin former home secretary, who resigned from the Cabinet when Liz Truss was elected the Prime Minister last month, said the Tories must put political differences aside to give Sunak the best chance of succeeding as the new leader.
Her intervention came as the former chancellor looks well poised as the frontrunner to make history as the first Indian-origin Prime Minister of the UK, with publicly voiced support for Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt still well short of the 100-MPs threshold.
“In these difficult times for our country we must unite by putting public service first and work together,” tweeted Patel.
“We care about our country and with the enormous challenges upon us we must put political differences aside to give Rishi Sunak the best chance of succeeding,” she said.
It came alongside her Diwali tweet, with images of the senior Tory MP at a temple lighting candles.
