Rishi Sunak yesterday became Britain’s third prime minister this year and the first person of colour to lead the former imperial power, vowing to overcome economic crisis provoked by the “mistakes” of Liz Truss’s calamitous 49-day tenure.
In his first order of business, Sunak retained Jeremy Hunt as chancellor of the exchequer, bidding to keep financial markets on side after Truss’s budget plans shocked investors, and also retained her foreign and defence ministers.
Sunak, who at 42 is Britain’s youngest leader since 1812, became the ruling Conservatives’ new leader on Monday after a prior stint as chancellor himself.
Addressing the nation in Downing Street yesterday shortly after his appointment by King Charles III, Sunak said the country faced “profound economic crisis”.
“I will unite our country — not with words, but with action,” Sunak said, capping the latest extraordinary twist in UK politics following Boris Johnson’s demise in July.
Departing shortly before, Truss wished him “every success” — and said she remained “more convinced than ever” that Britain needed to be “bold” in confronting the challenges it faced.
Sunak countered that though she was motivated by a well-intentioned desire to kick-start growth, her tax-cutting measures were “mistakes nonetheless”.
“And I have been elected as leader of my party and your prime minister in part to fix them,” he said. “And that work begins immediately. I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda,” he added, helping to drive the pound more than 1% higher against the dollar.
Sunak’s appointment followed rival contender Penny Mordaunt failing to secure enough nominations from Tory MPs, and Johnson dramatically aborting a comeback attempt late on Sunday.
Breaking his silence, Johnson offered his “full and wholehearted support” to Sunak – having privately blamed his ex-minister for toppling him in July.
Sunak in turn praised Johnson, and vowed to build on the election-winning promises that earned the Conservatives a big victory in 2019, despite their dismal standing in polling today against the opposition Labour party.
But Sunak also issued a coded reminder of the many scandals that brought Johnson down, vowing his own premiership would offer “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level”.
Rishi Sunak
