Rishi Sunak Becomes British Prime Minister After Meeting King Charles

Rishi Sunak has become the UK’s third prime minister in seven weeks after accepting an invitation by King Charles III to form a government.

The new PM is expected to address the nation shortly, before entering No 10 as the UK’s first Hindu prime minister, the first of Asian heritage, and the youngest for more than 200 years at the age of 42.

Ex-Tory leader Liz Truss doubled down on her radical agenda in an unrepentant final speech at No 10 – calling for “lower taxes” and warning Mr Sunak against a “low-growth economy”.

Ms Truss was forced out after just seven weeks – the shortest-serving PM in history – after her disastrous mini-Budget sparked market turmoil and crashed Tory poll numbers.

The new PM is expected to to keep Jeremy Hunt as chancellor and stick to the 31 October date for the government’s debt reduction plan, as he prepares to announce his first cabinet.

He is expected to include some high-profile supporters of Ms Truss and Boris Johnson in cabinet – with right-wingers Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch tipped for roles, along with Sunak loyalists such as Oliver Dowden and Dominic Raab.

Mr Sunak has ruled out a general election, despite growing calls from opposition parties and campaigners for the public to have their say on another change of leadership.

Labour warned of the further “chaos” ahead, saying Mr Sunak could be forced out as Tory leader within six months by disgruntled Boris Johnson loyalists.

“The Conservative party is a sclerotic mess,” shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC. “And who’s to say Rishi Sunak isn’t going to be out in six months’ time because you can hear the knives sharpening in Westminster of the disgruntled Borisites.”

It comes as some Tory supporters have cancelled their memberships after Mr Sunak was named as Ms Truss’s successor without the grassroots having any say – with one saying they felt the party had been “destroyed from within”.

Tamara Wood, chair of Telford Conservative Association, said she was angry at the Sunak “coronation” after being installed by MPs alone.

“I have to say the membership, the officers, and some of our current counsellors and candidates are very unhappy,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme.

Ben Harris-Quinney, head of the right-wing Bow Group think tank, said tens of thousands of members will leave the party. “The fact that it was a coronation is a terrible advert for the Conservative Party and the nation,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, CBI boss Tony Danker said Mr Sunak must avoid a “doom loop” of austerity cuts, as he prepares to set out how a £40bn black hole in the public finances will be filled.

With opposition parties and unions also warning against frontline cuts, after Mr Hunt said he faces “eye-wateringly difficult” decisions. The chancellor has reportedly asked Whitehall departments outside of health and defence to find cuts of 15 per cent.

Tory MP Victoria Atkins, a Sunak backer, refused to be drawn on whether he will push ahead with the debt plan announced by Mr Hunt last week.

Ms Atkins described the new PM as a “compassionate but fiscally prudent Conservative”.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Sunak must “make it clear” to the party that it “can no longer indulge in debates about policy”.

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