Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak said he would run the economy like Margaret Thatcher, the former Conservative prime minister, if he becomes the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday.

"We will cut taxes and we will do it responsibly. That's my economic approach. I would describe it as common sense Thatcherism. I believe that's what she would have done," Sunak told the paper.

Sunak is one among the eight candidates competing to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)