In a vote that is expected to calm the British markets, Rishi Sunak has been voted in as the leader of the Conservative Party in Parliament and will take over as Prime Minister.

The move comes less than a week after Liz Truss suddenly resigned amid growing pressure from her party and country.

Sunak’s election comes at a tough time for any incoming world leader. Global inflation and energy crises dominate discomfort at home for many in the United Kingdom. According to the Wall Street Journal, “the early stages of his tenure are likely to be punctuated by worker strikes and questions about whether electricity blackouts will be needed as Russia restricts gas exports to Europe.”

Mr. Sunak also faces another potentially more intractable challenge: uniting a party that has been at war with itself for years. The Conservative Party is at a record low in the polls against the opposition Labour Party. A recent poll by Opinium has 23% of Britons voting for the Conservatives versus 50% for Labour. Pollsters think the scale of that deficit, combined with the fact that the Tories will seek a record fifth term in office at the next election in 2024, is potentially insurmountable.

Mr. Sunak, who isn’t a famed political operator, must find a way of bringing together lawmakers who have polar opposite views on the direction that the U.K. economy should take. In the wake of the U.K.’s departure from the European Union, conservative lawmakers are split between embracing low regulation, a smaller government, and free trade, or protectionism and more state intervention as an aging population puts more strain on public services.

Sunak is also the third Prime Minister the U.K. has had in seven weeks. He is also the first person of color to hold the office.

Rishi Sunak will become the UK’s third Prime Minister in seven weeks pic.twitter.com/cFTgHOy4kv

— The Daily Record (@Daily_Record) October 24, 2022