The former chancellor is up against the foreign minister in a last-ditch bid to become prime minister and leader of the Tory party. In the final vote, Mr. Sunak led the pack with 137 votes, while Liz Truss secured last place in the contest with 113 votes. During the leadership contest, the MP for Richmond was the only candidate not to pledge to cut taxes as part of his policy
The former chancellor warned that while inflation is rising to a 40-year high of 9.4 percent, it would be the wrong time to cut taxes.
He promised to cut the tax at some point, saying: “Once we get inflation under control, I will lower the tax burden” adding “it’s a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if'”.
During previous debates in the competition, he said: “We need a return to traditional conservative economic values - and that means fairness and accountability, not fairy tales.
“I had to make some of the hardest choices of my life when I was chancellor, especially how to deal with our debts and loans after Covid.”
He added: “I certainly won’t pretend now that the choices I made and the things I voted for were somehow unnecessary.
“While this is politically inconvenient, it is the truth.”
Mr Sunak stated on Thursday that he has no intention of cutting personal taxes until the fall of 2023 at the earliest if he becomes prime minister.
He added that Ms Truss is misleading the public after promising that if she were voted to become prime minister on September 5, she would cut taxes “from day one”.
The former chancellor said he would not expect inflation to fall before next summer, amid warnings from the Bank of England that it could rise to 11 percent in the coming months.
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The Foreign Secretary responded to Mr Sunak’s accusations about her “fairytale policy” by saying his act as Prime Minister would send Britain into recession and vowed that her policies would not fuel inflation.
Ms Truss argued: “I think the problem is that if we continue with our current economic policies, which are expected to lead to a recession, it will be very difficult for conservatives to win elections.”
She also pledged to introduce another tax cut for home health care providers and more than £30bn in tax cuts from loans.
On LBC, Mr Sunak said, “Wouldn’t my life be easier if I just sat here and… [said] “I’m going to do this nice-sounding thing and this nice-sounding thing”?
But that wouldn’t be leadership.
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“I think it would damage confidence because part of restoring confidence is that the government and politicians deliver on the things they say.
“And sitting here and promising you a lot of things that I don’t think are good or can’t be delivered.”
New polls have shown that while Mr Sunak led the way with the vote up to the final, Liz Truss holds the majority of Tory members.
The data showed that Mr Sunak would have only 38 percent of Tory members, while the Foreign Secretary would support 62 percent.