UK prime minister

2022 - 10 - 24

Post cover — Image courtesy of "BBC News"

Rishi Sunak to become first British Asian PM as Penny Mordaunt ... (BBC News)

Almost 200 Tory MPs publicly backed the ex-chancellor, who was elected party leader without a vote.

"This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party," Ms Mordaunt wrote in a tweet. Mr Sunak will be the fourth consecutive prime minister - after Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Ms Truss - to take power without a general election. Sources told the BBC that Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson met on Saturday as Tory MPs decided who to back in the second Tory leadership contest in four months. Ms Mordaunt took the leadership race to the wire but came under pressure to unite behind Mr Sunak after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest on Sunday. Mr Sunak - a 42-year-old practising Hindu - is expected to take office in the coming days now the result of the Tory leadership contest is known. Mr Sunak's coronation, in effect, as Tory leader caps a rapid political comeback by the former chancellor after he lost out to Ms Truss in the last leadership contest during the summer.

Who is Rishi Sunak, the new UK prime minister? (The Conversation AU)

Sunak is the first person of colour to take the top post. But he faces a host of problems at home, as well as a Conservative Party tearing itself apart.

The party is behaving like one that has only the slimmest of majorities and is on its way out. Sunak’s premiership may well be a case of the band playing on. This issue has weakened the centre left for a couple of decades. But this may only prolong the pain and defer a significant loss of seats whenever the next election arrives. Now such divisions seem to be affecting the right of politics too. How Sunak manages this coming “ [winter of discontent](https://academic.oup.com/liverpool-scholarship-online/book/43198)” will define his premiership. His legitimacy with the electorate is not as strong as it could be given that he is the third Conservative leader and PM since the last election in 2019. The Conservatives are seen as a party of – and for – the wealthy. It has not lived up to the over-inflated expectations of its most ardent boosters. The cost of living and energy crises will be the foremost political and economic challenges, but the B-word (Brexit) still casts a shadow. This will matter for perceptions of the new PM among the wider electorate. Much of the credit can go to David Cameron’s attempts to modernise the Conservative party in the mid-2000s.

Rishi Sunak prepares to be confirmed as UK prime minister (Financial Times)

New Conservative party leader to meet King Charles at Buckingham Palace.

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Liz Truss's final speech as Prime Minister: 25 October 2022 (GOV.UK)

and welcoming the accession of His Majesty King Charles III. In just a short period, this government has acted urgently and decisively on the side of ...

It is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” I look forward to spending more time in my constituency, and continuing to serve South West Norfolk from the backbenches. and I wish Rishi Sunak every success, for the good of our country. And we must continue to strengthen our nation’s defences. We must be able to outcompete autocratic regimes, where power lies in the hands of a few. From my time as Prime Minister, I am more convinced than ever we need to be bold and confront the challenges that we face.

Rishi Sunak to give first speech as prime minister after Liz Truss ... (The Washington Post)

Rishi Sunak, a former finance minister and hedge-fund manager, comes to office with some of the harshest economic headwinds Britain has faced in a ...

He called for “stability and unity” — the opposite of the tumult and divisions that characterized Truss’s tenure. Labour Party lawmaker Angela Rayner decried Sunak’s accession as a coronation and that the Tories could not “keep doling out prime ministers every month.” Labour leader He will also seek to unite his warring and unpopular Conservative Party, which, he warned, must “unite or die.” She closed with: “We continue to battle through a storm but I believe in Britain, I believe in the British people and I know that brighter days lie ahead.” The contest to replace Truss was wrapped up surprisingly fast — it was less than a week ago that she resigned. Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Conservative Party, told LBC radio that Johnson found himself “struggling and begging people for votes. Then she was driven by motorcade to Buckingham Palace, and she resigned in person to the new king, Charles III. The incoming prime minister Sunak followed — and Charles asked him to form a new government. As the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote, ‘it is not that things are difficult that we do not dare, it’s because we do not dare, that it is difficult.’ ” She stumbled somewhat over Seneca’s name. “It means lower taxes so people can keep more of the money they earn. “We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently. “From my time as prime minister, I am more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the challenges we face.

'Be bold': Liz Truss lays down gauntlet to Rishi Sunak in final speech ... (The Guardian)

Outgoing PM tells successor he should continue cutting taxes and keep planned rise in defence spending.

The outgoing prime minister said she was “more convinced than ever we need to be bold and confront the challenges we face” – saying she still believed in lower taxes and strengthening the nation’s defences. Flanked by her aides and supporters on one side and husband and two children on the other, Truss wished Sunak “every success” before she was whisked away in a car to Buckingham Palace to formally tender her resignation to the king. [Rishi Sunak](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/rishi-sunak), to “be bold” as she laid down the gauntlet by suggesting he should continue cutting taxes and keep the planned rise in defence spending.

Outgoing UK PM Truss: Brighter days lie ahead (Reuters)

Outgoing British Prime Minister Liz Truss said the country faced "brighter days" as she made her final speech as leader outside her Downing Street office on ...

It is because we do not dare that they are difficult." I believe in the British people. But I believe in Britain.