Rishi Sunak bookmakers' favourite to replace Liz Truss as UK's next prime minister

Rishi Sunak is the favourite to succeed Liz Truss as prime minister following her resignation.

Sunak is the bookies' favourite to become the next prime minister, having lost out to Truss at the last leadership election just months ago.

He lost by a margin of 21,000 votes, with many members opposing him over his prominent role in toppling Boris Johnson.

Read more: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will not run to be the next prime minister

But his accurate economic forecasts that his opponent’s widespread tax cuts were “fantasy economics”, makes his bid even more appealing to Tory MPs who have criticised 'Trussonomics'.

The former chancellor is the odds-on favourite with Paddy Power (4/5) to be the UK’s third prime minister of the year.

Penny Mordaunt, current leader of the House, is another favourite to lead the Conservative Party (7/4) and Defence secretary Ben Wallace (17/2), who was already a favourite last time but refused to run.

A shock return to Downing Street for former PM Boris Johnson is also priced at 14/1.

Read more: Pound up after Liz Truss quits as PM

Kemi Badenoch (20/1) is the fifth favourite. She's currently Secretary of State for International Trade and many Tories have claimed she could be the "last hope" for the party.

Separately the Guardian's political editor reported former minister Michael Gove was "ruled out" for the leadership. Current chancellor Jeremy Hunt has also ruled himself out of the race.

Read more: FTSE 100 jumps as Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

“Rishi Sunak may be the favourite to replace Liz Truss, but at 500/1, there’s great value on backing the lettuce instead. After all, it’s already lasted longer than the outgoing PM, so it looks like it has the political staying power that the Tories so desperately need.

“But, with Brexit still a huge sticking point for leadership hopefuls, the big question is: is the lettuce leaf or romaine?”

NEXT CONSERVATIVE LEADER

4/5 Rishi Sunak

7/4 Penny Mordaunt

17/2 Ben Wallace

14/1 Boris Johnson

20/1 Kemi Badenoch

33/1 Suella Braverman

40/1 Sajid Javid

40/1 Jeremy Hunt

40/1 Simon Clarke

66/1 Dominic Raab

500/1 The Lettuce

500/1 Neil Warnock

500/1 Roy Keane

500/1 Gary Neville

Watch: Who Are the Front Runners to Replace Truss as UK PM?