Rishi Sunak takes charge as UK's first Indian-origin PM after meeting King Charles

Rishi Sunak has formally taken charge as Britains first Indianorigin Prime Minister after an audience with King Charles III on Tuesday a day after he was elected the new leader of the Conservative Party in a historic leadership runOutgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss chaired her final Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning before making her way to Buckingham Palace to formally tender her resignation to the 73yearold monarchSunak then arrived at the palace for his meeting with the King who then invited him to form a government as the UKrsquos 57th Prime Minister and the monarchs second in just over six weeksThe 42yearold former Chancellor of Exchequer a devout Hindu is the youngest British prime minister in 210 years He is also Britains first Hindu Prime MinisterSunak the second prime minister in as many months and the third this year will make his first prime ministerial address on the steps of 10 Downing Street expected to be joined by his wife Akshata Murty and daughters Krishna and Anoushka He is then expected to start finalising his Cabinet with the key roles of Chancellor Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary expected to be announced soonAlso read In Photos 6 Facts about Indianorigin Rishi Sunak who is elected as UKs PMThe UK is a great country but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge said Sunak in his first address as Prime Minister elect on Monday with reference to the economic turmoil he is inheriting following former prime minister Liz Truss disastrous taxcutting minibudget last monthWe now need stability and unity and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together because that is the only way we will overcome the challenges we face and build a better more prosperous future for our children and our grandchildren I pledge that I will serve you with integrity and humility and I will work day in day out to deliver for the British people he saidSunaks victory on Diwali has resonated among the Indian diaspora groups across the UK who have hailed it as a ldquohistoric momentrdquo in British social historyRishi Sunak becoming the first British Indian Prime Minister is an historic moment This simply would not have been possible even a decade or two agordquo said Sunder Katwala Director of British Future think tankldquoBut we should not underestimate this important social change When Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980 there had been no Asian or black MPs at all in the postwar era There were still no black or Asian Conservative MPs when he graduated from university in 2001 That Rishi Sunak is set to be Prime Minister during the coronation of King Charles III next spring tells an important story about our society where we have come from and where we are going in the futurerdquo he saidThe Archbishop of Canterbury urged Britons to pray for Rishi Sunak as he enters No 10 Downing Street at a turbulent timeAt a time of great difficulty and uncertainty for this country please join me in praying for Rishi Sunak as he takes on the responsibilities of leadership Justin Welby wrote on TwitterMay he and all leaders of all parties work across divides to bring unity and offer stability for those who need it most he saidSunakrsquos victory in the Tory leadership race came at the end of a dramatic few days in Westminster since Liz Truss resigned last Thursday in the wake of a disastrous taxcutting minibudget and several policy UturnsFormer prime minister Boris Johnson ruling himself out from the contest over the weekend and Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt conceding defeat just moments before the shortlisting deadline on Monday paved the way for a remarkable political comeback for Sunak ndash having lost the Tory membership vote to Truss just last monthHowever his popularity as the frontrunner among his party colleagues was replicated yet again as more than half the Tory MPs came out publicly in his support He now faces the enormous challenge of steering the UK economy through massive inflationary turbulence and also uniting the different wings of a divided Conservative PartyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever