Stage set for Rishi Sunak’s grand takeover as British PM—meeting with King Charles today

Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak will take over as the UK’s third prime minister this year after the departures of Boris Johnson in September and Liz Truss in October.

Sunak will meet the newly-anointed King Charles III on Tuesday morning at the Buckingham Palace where he will be invited to form the government. He will then issue a statement from Downing Street and formally take over as the first Prime Minister of colour in the UK.

Accolades and wishes are pouring in from across world leaders.

Mentioning Sunak at the Diwali celebration, US President Joe Biden said: “And whether it’s the United Kingdom, where just today we’ve got the news that Rishi Sunak is now the Prime Minister… As my brother would say, Go figure! And the Conservative Party! (Sunak) is expected to become the prime minister, I think, tomorrow when he goes to see the king. Pretty astounding. A ground-breaking milestone. And it matters. It matters.”

Truss, who remained as the PM for about 45-odd days, will also meet up with the King and tender her resignation.

Sunak will become the Prime Minister at a daunting time for the British economy–when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) castigated the Truss government over her policy decisions. Economists say that the UK is looking at a recession if it has not already entered one. The Russia-Ukraine war has pushed up energy costs, which is likely to become worse, as the winter sets in.

Sunak was given overwhelming support by Conservative Party MPs after Truss lost confidence due to economic policy decisions that negatively influenced the markets.

In the leadership contest, his main rival, former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt could not muster the support of 100 MPs to enter the next round of the contest. As she withdrew from the race, Sunak was elected unopposed as the party leader. Former prime minister Boris Johnson aborted his come-back bid after noticing that MPs had swung in favour of Sunak.

In his address to Conservative Party members on Monday night, Sunak promised to serve with integrity and highlighted the “profound economic challenge” that lay before the country.

At just 42 years, Sunak will be the youngest British Prime Minister in more than two centuries.

Also Read: Rishi Sunak to become UK Prime Minister, creates history