Twitter has reacted to the news that Rishi Sunak will be the UK’s next PM with a broad range of opinions – with some celebrating the announcement as a step forward for diversity and others arguing he has no mandate.
Some are celebrating the announcement, hailing it as a step forward for Asian and Hindu representation and noting its symbolism on Diwali.
At the other end of the spectrum, some have pointed to Sunak’s wealth to suggest that he is not a figurehead of diversity, and have argued that he has no mandate.
Piers Morgan was one of the first big names to respond and heaped praise on Sunak.
While Morgan pointed out that Sunak will be the country’s first British-Asian and Hindu Prime Minister, Nadia Whittome, Labour’s MP for Nottingham East, thinks that his ascension is not a victory for Asian representation.
Hopewell Chin’ono, an award-winning Zimbabwean journalist who has worked for the BBC, ITV, and the New York Times, called Rishi’s rise the marker of a ‘historic moment for Britain and ethnic minorities’.
Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and the MP for Ashton-under-Lyme, waded into the debate, arguing that Sunak ‘has no mandate, no answers and no ideas’.
Her assertions were supported by Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central and Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who argued that ‘He’s as out of touch as the last Tory PM.’
Jake Berry, Chairman of the Conservative Party and MP for the Lancashire constituency of Rossendale and Darwen, called for unity behind Sunak.
Nigel Farage, ever the innovator, posted a link to a video he filmed from the back of a taxi, with a Union Jack-themed cushion in the background.
In the video, he launched a scatching attack on what he perceived to be the continued failures of the Tory party.
He said: “We will continue with low growth. We will continue with low productivity.
“Nothing will change, nothing will improve. The Conservatives are doomed.”
LBC presenter and political commentator James O’Brien quipped just minutes after the news arrived: ‘Have any letters of no confidence gone in yet?’
