Rishi Sunak appointed new British PM by King Charles III
Oct 25, 2022
London [UK], October 25 : Rishi Sunak has become the new UK Prime Minister after meeting King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
Sunak is now the UK's 57th prime minister after being asked to form a government by King Charles III.
He is the third prime minister this year and will enter Downing Street as the youngest PM in two centuries.
Sunak will be making a statement soon after he arrives at 10 Downing Street.
Meanwhile, outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss has officially become the shortest-serving PM in UK history after she was forced to step down just 45 days into office.
On Monday, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak became the Conservative Party leader less than two months after he lost to Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race. Sunak's change in fate was triggered by the resignation of Truss after high-profile sackings and resignations in her Cabinet, following a heavily criticised mini-budget that left the UK pound tumbling.
Truss' ascent to power was paved by the Tory leadership crisis following Boris Johnson's resignation in July, after a series of resignations of cabinet members, who protested against his scandal-plagued leadership.
In a short farewell speech earlier, she defended her legacy of trying to push through tax cuts and said leaders needed to be bold.
She called for lowering taxes and delivering growth, Truss said, "We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently. This means delivering more freedom for our own citizens and restoring power for our democratic institutions."
"It means lower taxes so people can keep more of the money they earn. And it means delivering growth that will lead to more job security, higher wages and more opportunities for our children and grandchildren," she added.
Truss said that her government had acted "urgently and decisively" to help hard-working families.
She said she had helped thousands of businesses to avoid bankruptcy, and taken back energy independence so we're "no longer reliant on malign foreign powers."
Sunak will be the UK's third leader in seven weeks after winning a Tory leadership contest triggered by Truss stepping down.
After being selected by Tory MPs on Monday, he warned the country faced a "profound economic challenge."
Sunak ruled out an early general election, despite calls from Labour, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.
