How does the resignation of Liz Truss in the UK affect the rest of the world?
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(CNN) -- The United Kingdom could announce its new prime minister on Monday, the third in seven weeks.
That will be the case only if Rishi Sunak wins the support of 100 MPs from the Conservative Party, leaving him unopposed in the race.
Sunak is the favorite to become the UK's third prime minister of the autumn, and the fifth in six years.
He came second to Truss in the previous contest, but his repeated warnings about her economic plan proved correct in record time and she has gathered a good number of supporters within the party.
An accelerated process could crown a winner this Monday.
Candidates must win the support of 100 Conservative MPs to be included on the ballot, a hurdle Sunak has already cleared with ease.
If two people pass the threshold, there will be an indicative vote by MPs and then later this week members of the Conservatives will give their opinion.
Boris Johnson will not enter the Conservative Party leadership race, UK Press Association says
Sunak's only competition is Cabinet member Penny Mourdant, who placed third over the summer.
But Mourdant has failed to gain much momentum in the race and she could be pressured to withdraw, either before the MPs' vote or after, if she is unable to find something on Monday.
In a few days of dizzying political maneuvering, Sunak has already shaken off competition from his political rival Boris Johnson, who had tried to stage a remarkable political comeback just weeks after his resignation.
After days of speculation, the former prime minister withdrew from the race on Sunday, insisting he had enough MPs to carry on but saying he did not want to lead a divided party.
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That task will fall to whoever wins this week.
But the next prime minister will also have to take the reins of a country mired in economic darkness and resist growing calls to seek a new term by calling general elections.
Truss's fiscal agenda spooked markets and hurt the value of the pound, while the cost-of-living crisis has increased inequality and left families unable to make ends meet.
It is fair to say that the endless drama at the Conservative Party leadership has left voters wary and threatened Britain's reputation around the world.
The country's next leader will promise to end this chaos, but it won't be easy.
Who is Rishi Sunak?
Sunak has proven to be something of a prophet of the government's demise, as many of the predictions he made during this summer's leadership about Truss's economic plan came to pass.
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) warned that Truss's unfunded tax cuts would lead to a devaluation of the pound sterling, panic in the bond market and concern of the International Monetary Fund.
Perhaps even he would have been surprised by the pace with which he agreed.
Rishi Sunak.
(Photo: Peter Summers/Getty Images)
Sunak has experience fighting the economic crisis, having guided the UK through the covid-19 pandemic.
He also won the most votes from MPs in the last leadership election, handily passing the new threshold with 137 endorsements.
Although Truss ultimately won the deciding vote of the membership, Sunak only narrowly lost, with 43% of the vote.
Penny Mordaunt, the other applicant
The leader of the House of Commons may have had a dress rehearsal for prime minister last week, after replacing an absent Liz Truss in a debate.
"The prime minister is not under a desk," Mordaunt said in those days, in a performance that seemed both to be acting out and to be helping the prime minister.
Penny Mordaunt, one of the hopefuls to be prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Mordaunt came in third place in the last leadership election, narrowly missing out on being introduced to the members.
With 105 votes from parliamentarians in the last election, she is also expected to cross the threshold of the votes.
He is expected to perform well among party members, in part due to his military credentials.
Mordaunt is a Royal Navy reservist who served a brief spell as Secretary of State for Defence.
Like Sunak, he belongs to the more moderate wing of the party.
There was even talk among MPs that the two would form a "dream team" ticket, although this has yet to materialize, and it is unclear if either would agree to be chancellor rather than take on the top job.
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