Liz Truss has 90% chance over ‘underdog’ Rishi Sunak to be next UK PM: Report

India Today:

As the race to become the next UK prime minister enters the final lap, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has been rated a 90 per cent shot to succeed former Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the head of the UK Conservative Party and the prime minister, according to betting exchange firm Smarkets.

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak and Truss are competing in a six-week tour of hustings around the UK for the votes of some 175,000 Tory party members.

Sunak’s chances of becoming the prime minister have plummeted to 10 per cent, Smarket said.

“When the race first narrowed down to the final two, Truss was rated a 60-40 favourite to win, but the odds have continued to move in her favour,” Matthew Shaddick, head of political markets at Smarkets told Bloomberg. “Many were forecasting that Rishi Sunak would be a better campaigner, but Truss’s debate performances have beaten expectations.”

However, Sunak earlier conceded he was the underdog in the race to be the next UK prime minister but vowed to fight for every vote.

After Johnson was forced to announce his resignation on July 7 amid waves of scandal, party lawmakers whittled the contest down from 11 candidates to Truss and Sunak. The results will be announced on September 5.