In his first speech as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that there would be difficult decisions ahead as his new government grapples with what has been describe as “a profound economic crisis". His speech outside No 10 came after he was appointed PM by King Charles.
Mr Sunak promised to deliver the manifesto that won the Conservatives a landslide election victory in 2019. He said he was elected as Tory leader to fix the mistakes made by his predecessor, Liz Truss.
As the UK's first Asian prime minister, Sunak was expected to announce his cabinet after telling Tory MPs to unify or face electoral oblivion. A large majority of those MPs backed him for the leadership and when his only remaining rival Penny Mordaunt withdrew, there was no need for a ballot of members.
Prime Minister Sunak was defeated in a ballot of Tory members during the summer, to Liz Truss, who won over members with her tax-cutting economic agenda. But her government was destabilised by political and economic turmoil, exacerbated by her mini-budget, whose package of unfunded tax cuts has mostly been ditched.
Mr Sunak's effective coronation as Tory leader spelled the end of Ms Truss's turbulent premiership, just 49 days after she took office.
In his speech, Mr Sunak paid tribute to his predecessors Boris Johnson and Ms Truss, saying that she was not wrong to want to improve the country’s growth. In his speech, he said: "Some mistakes were made - not born of ill will or bad intentions, quite the opposite, in fact.
“But mistakes, nonetheless. I have been elected as leader of the party and as prime minister in part to fix them. And that work begins immediately.”
The Prime Minister- who was chancellor until July this year - said that he would place economic componence and stability at the heart of his government's agenda, warning that it will mean difficult decisions to come.
