Tories have 'turned a corner' and will 'settle down' under Rishi Sunak's watch, former minister claims
25 October 2022, 08:28
Rishi Sunak's election is going to allow Tories to 'settle down' MP tells LBC
Former minister Victoria Atkins said she believes the Tories have "turned a corner" and will now "settle down" under Rishi Sunak's stewardship.
Rishi Sunak is set to be appointed as the country's next prime minister by the King and look to build a new Cabinet that might unite a fractious Tory party.
He won the Tory leadership contest without a vote being cast after rivals Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson dropped out, and will replace Liz Truss in No 10 on Tuesday.
Sunak backer Victoria Atkins said she believes the former chancellor will bring "stability and confidence" to the markets with "all his expertise and experience".
"We all understand that we've now really got to get behind Rishi - and, in fairness, that's exactly what the party has done," she told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC.
"The range of endorsements and support he's had from all corners of the party and the enormous reaction he got yesterday when the result was announced, I genuinely think that we have turned a corner, we're going to settle down, and this period of pretty difficult politics, I hope, will now come to an end and we will be able to focus on the job that, frankly, we all came into politics for.
"I came into politics to help people, for us to be a force for good. We're now going to be able to do that with Rishi."
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The handover of power will see Ms Truss, who quit last week after only six weeks in the top job, hold her final Cabinet meeting and give a farewell speech in Downing Street before formally tendering her resignation to Charles at Buckingham Palace.
Once she has left, it will be Mr Sunak's turn to see the King, who will ask him to form an administration.
Mr Sunak is expected to address the nation just before noon, before entering No 10 as the UK's first Hindu prime minister, the first of Asian heritage, and the youngest for more than 200 years at the age of 42.
The former chancellor will then turn his attention to assembling a top team that he will hope can return a measure of stability to both the Conservatives and the country.
He has been urged to avoid Ms Truss's perceived error of appointing loyalists to key roles, with James Cleverly calling for the overhauled Cabinet to feature the best ministers.
The Foreign Secretary told Sky News: "We have got to have the first 15 on the pitch. I know that Rishi understands that."
Read more: Rishi Sunak facts: Policies, background and wife and children - everything you need to know
Mr Sunak will look to build a Cabinet of "all the talents" that will see the political return of the "adults", according to reports.
While his team was remaining tight-lipped about the possible make-up of the team, his long-time backers Dominic Raab, the former justice secretary, Commons Treasury Committee chair Mel Stride and ex-chief whip Mark Harper were tipped to be in it.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who was brought in to steady Ms Truss's ailing Government and has been working towards a highly-anticipated Halloween fiscal statement, is widely expected to keep the keys to No 11 to try to stabilise the jittery markets.
Ms Mordaunt, who bowed out of the race to hand Mr Sunak a spectacular political comeback as she failed to get the 100 nominations from Tory MPs, is expected to get some kind of promotion - with some speculating that she could replace Mr Cleverly as foreign secretary.
Mr Sunak ruled out an early general election demanded by opposition parties as the Tories move onto their third prime minister on the mandate won by Mr Johnson in 2019.
