Countryside Alliance welcomes Rishi Sunak as the next Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak will be the UK's next prime minister after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest.

As the MP for Richmond (Yorkshire), a rural constituency, Rishi Sunak is a supporter of the Countryside Alliance Rural Awards and former President of the Moorcock Show.

Writing in the Alliance's membership magazine, My Countryside, in July, Mr Sunak said: " I'll continue to protect our countryside from those who don't understand the rural way of life. In short my mission has always been to do things "for" rural communities, not "to" them."

"Farming is part of the DNA of my constituency - from the Upper Dales to Great Ayton, from sheep to dairy to arable, through Auction Marts at Hawes, Leyburn and Northallerton. Food production and food security have never been so important and I will always back our farmers, to whom we owe so much. They - and our wider rural communities - are part of the solution to the environmental challenges we face, not the problem".

Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance said: " As a rural MP, Rishi Sunak will know the anxieties many in the countryside face in relation to the cost of living crisis. Food security and the transition of farm support to help tackle the huge challenges of climate change and reversing biodiversity decline are also high on his government's agenda. The challenges ahead are significant and complex. As a rural campaigning organisation we look forward to working with the new government to ensure the rural way of life is protected and the countryside is never just a second thought".

Mr Sunak's full article can be found here.