Rishi Sunak makes plea for party unity

London: Britain’s interim Leader of the Opposition Rishi Sunak has used his final address as Conservative Party chief to call on his colleagues to stop squabbling and unite behind his successor.

The 44-year-old British-Indian politician, who resigned as Tory leader following the party’s bruising defeat in the July general election, used his address to the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Sunday evening to express optimism for its future. He and his wife, Akshata Murty, were given a warm welcome by the Tory membership gathered for his speech, which reflected a modified agenda as Sunak made way for the four leadership contenders to take centre stage to make their pitches to be elected his successor. “I’m optimistic about our country’s long-term future, I’m optimistic about our party’s future too,” said Sunak, amid loud cheers. “Whoever wins this contest, give them your backing. We must end the division, the backbiting, the squabbling. We mustn’t nurse old grudges but build new friendships. We must always remember what unites us, rather than obsessing about where we might differ, because when we turn in on ourselves, we lose and the country ends up with a Labour government,” he said. Former ministers James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat are going head-to-head at this week’s party conference to convince fellow Tory members of Parliament and

the wider party membership that they are best placed to take Sunak’s place following the worst Tory general election defeat in decades.