Britain has a new prime minister. Exactly seven weeks after his predecessor Liz Truss (47) took office, the Rishi Sunak (42) was inaugurated by King Charles III. (73) charged with forming a government at Buckingham Palace. Earlier, the King formally dismissed Truss from office in an audience. Only the monarch has the right to appoint the prime minister.
Sunak is the third prime minister in two months, the youngest prime minister in over 200 years and the first Hindu and first Indian politician to hold office. An official photo shows the monarch shaking hands with the new head of government.
Speech to the nation follows
After the audience with Charles, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer wanted to address the nation from Downing Street. He was elected by his Conservative Party as the new leader on Monday, and with it the future prime minister. Apart from him, no other MP had reached the required number of at least 100 supporters in the Tory group.
Truss announced her resignation on Thursday after just 44 days in office. With a far-reaching tax reform, it caused a lot of unrest in the financial markets. After harsh criticism, also from her own ranks, she had to change and soon lost her authority. Sunak, on the other hand, is considered a “steady hand”. He had already applied in the summer to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but lost to Truss. He had sharply criticized their economic plans at the time—and was right.
Sunak had many problems
The married father of two daughters faces big problems. He has to regain the confidence of the markets. Analysts trust him. It will likely be more difficult to reunite his recently deeply divided conservative party. It is therefore eagerly awaited who will appoint Sunak to his cabinet. If he exchanges too many ministers, he can make new enemies.
The opposition criticizes Sunak as the second conservative prime minister in a row not to take office in parliamentary elections and calls for new elections. Sunak refuses. The Tories claim that the party and not a politician has been given the mandate of the electorate. Polls say Conservatives are lagging far behind the largest opposition party, Labour. (SDA)