Sunak gets to work: New PM faces daunting in-tray as he warns Tories must 'unite or die' ahead of visit to King Charles
25 October 2022, 00:01 | Updated: 4 November 2022, 09:41
Rishi Sunak will be officially made Prime Minister on Tuesday morning as he's due to visit King Charles.
He warned his colleagues the Conservative Party needed to "unite or die" ahead of him getting stuck into a daunting in-tray.
The ex-Chancellor was coronated as Tory leader on Monday after rivals Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the expedited contest.
He will take over from Liz Truss after her disastrous weeks in No10, and will need to restore the market's faith in the Government after her dreadfully-received mini-Budget.
He enters office as the first PM from an Asian background and, at 42, is the youngest for two centuries.
Having reportedly told Tory MPs they needed to "unite or die" after repeated infighting and the second leadership contest in a year, he said in his victory speech: "I am humbled and honoured to have the support of my parliamentary colleagues and to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.
Read more: Sunak's in-tray: what challenges will the PM face during his first week in office?
Rishi Sunak warns of profound economic challenge in his first address Tory party leader
"It is the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party I love and to give back to the country I owe so much to.
"The United Kingdom is a great country but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge.
"We now need stability and unity and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together."
Ms Mordaunt - his only remaining contender - conceded on Monday, leaving him the automatic winner and circumventing the need for members to vote. Ms Mordaunt was thought to have got the backing of about 90 MPs.
Mr Sunak lost to Ms Truss after the vote went to the Tory membership.
Ms Truss will hold a Cabinet meeting at 9am then make a statement outside No10 at about 10.15am.
She will then travel to Buckingham Palace to offer her resignation to the King.
Mr Sunak is due to meet him afterwards and be invited to form a government before making a speech at Downing Street at about 11.35am.
He will then need to build a Cabinet that can help his bid to take on the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine and the challenge of restoring credibility in the eyes of the market.
Read more: Rishi Sunak facts: Policies, background and wife and children - everything you need to know
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor who was parachuted in after Ms Truss ejected her good friend Kwasi Kwarteng from the role, is expected to stay in the job.
"Congratulations to @RishiSunak, our next prime minister," he said on Monday.
"This is a time for honesty about the huge economic challenges we face, and courage in addressing them.
"We have a PM who can be trusted to do just that - and give us all confidence in the huge potential of our country."
It is unknown if any olive branch will be offered to Boris Johnson.
