In a historic move, Rishi Sunak has on Tuesday assumed his role as Britain’s third prime minister this year and he will also be the first person of colour to assume the role and also lead the former imperial power, while also vowing to overcome the economic crisis which had been provoked by the “mistakes” of Liz Truss’s calamitous 49-day tenure.
In his first order of business as Prime Minister, Sunak had also retained Jeremy Hunt as his chancellor of the exchequer, while he had also been bidding to keep some of the financial markets on the side after the Truss’s budget plans shocked investors.
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Sunak, who is also a practising Hindu who at 42 is also Britain’s youngest leader since 1812 had became the ruling Conservatives’ new leader on Monday after a prior stint as a chancellor himself.
Addressing the nation in Downing Street Tuesday shortly after his appointment by King Charles III, Sunak said the country faced a “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 had also 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 one percent higher against the dollar Tuesday.
Sunak’s appointment followed jos rival contender Penny Mordaunt’s failure 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 had 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”.
In other cabinet appointments, Sunak retained James Cleverly as foreign secretary and brought close ally Dominic Raab back as deputy prime minister and justice secretary. He also retained Ben Wallace in the defence brief.