Rishi Sunak will become the UK’s next prime minister tomorrow after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace in the morning.
At the start of the day, outgoing PM Liz Truss will hold her last cabinet meeting before she is expected to make a departing statement outside Number 10 at 10.15am.
Ms Truss, who became the shortest-serving leader in UK history when she resigned after just 44 days, will then travel to Buckingham Palace for her final audience with King Charles.
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After Ms Truss has left the palace, Mr Sunak will then also travel to Buckingham Palace to be officially appointed as the next PM by the King.
The new Conservative Party leader is expected to then travel back to Downing Street where he will make a public address in front of Number 10 at around 11.35am.
Mr Sunak won the leadership race earlier today after Commons leader Penny Mordaunt bowed out at the eleventh hour, having failed to get the 100 nominations from Tory MPs required by the 2pm deadline.
Sources in the Mordaunt camp said she got 90 nominations, though the number of those who publicly announced their backing of her fell far short of this.
“We all owe it to the country to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation. There is much work to be done,” Ms Mordaunt said in a tweet.
Her decision came after Boris Johnson also with drawn from the contest on Sunday eveningdespite claiming he had the backing of at least the 100 MPs required to make it on to the ballot.
Mr Sunak enters Number 10 unopposed and has avoided an online ballot of the Conservative members that rejected him for Ms Truss last month.
He will be 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 title of youngest ever prime minister belongs to William Pitt the Younger, who was just 24 when he took office in 1783. Tony Blair was 43.
In his first comments after being announced as the next prime minister, the new Conservative Party leader said the UK faces a “profound economic challenge”.
He said he was “humbled and honored” after he was selected by Conservative MPs to lead the party and the nation, describing it as the “greatest privilege in my life”.
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Mr Sunak also paid tribute to outgoing prime minister Liz Truss for her “dedicated public service” in a brief speech at the Conservative Party headquarters in Westminster.
“The United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge,” he said.
“We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.”
The former chancellor is taking over from Ms Truss, just two months after she beat him in the last leadership election.
