Forty-two-year-old Rishi Sunak will be the UK’s next prime minister after Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the Tory leadership race in the final minutes before nominations closed.

Sunak will succeed Liz Truss seven weeks after she defeated him in the previous Tory contest.

The ex-chancellor gained the support of well over half of Tory MPs, with Mordaunt struggling to reach the 100 MP threshold, BBC reports

He will become the UK’s first British Asian PM and at 42, the youngest in more than a century.

Labour have reiterated their call for a general election, as have the Scottish National Party.

He will be Britain’s third leader in seven weeks and the first prime minister of colour in its history.

Sunak, the former chancellor of the Exchequer who is the son of Indian immigrants, won the contest to replace the ousted Liz Truss, who resigned under pressure last Thursday.