Britain's new leader Rishi Sunak pledged on Tuesday to restore trust in UK politics and "fix the mistakes" made under his predecessor Liz Truss in his first speech from Downing Street after he was appointed prime minister by King Charles III. Earlier, Truss wished Sunak "every success" in a brief farewell address.
Sunak, the UK's third leader this year, formally took power in an audience with King Charles III, who invited him to form a government in a meeting at Buckingham Palace.
"I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Liz Truss. She was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country. It is a noble aim. And I admired her restlessness to create change," Sunak said in his maiden address from Number 10.
"But some mistakes were made – not born of ill will, or bad intentions. Quite the opposite, in fact. But mistakes, nonetheless. And I have been elected as leader of my party and your prime minister, in part to fix them," he added.
Sunak had forecast the run on the pound and market chaos if Truss implemented her financial policies during their leadership race, and he was proved horrifically right.
Youngest and first Asian PM
The 42-year-old Hindu is Britain's first prime minister of colour and the youngest in more than two centuries.
Sunak became the ruling Conservatives' new leader on Monday after rival contender Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough nominations from Tory MPs, and Boris Johnson dramatically aborted a comeback bid.
Earlier on Tuesday, Truss held a final cabinet meeting before making her departing statement in Downing Street.
In a short speech, she defended her legacy of trying to push through tax cuts and wished her successor "every success".
"We continue to battle through a storm but I believe in Britain, I believe in the British people and I know that brighter days lie ahead," Truss said, before heading to Buckingham Palace to formally resign.
She leaves office as the shortest-serving premier in history, after her calamitous tax-slashing budget sparked economic and political turmoil.
The 47-year-old announced her resignation last Thursday, admitting she could not deliver her "mandate" from Conservative members – who had chosen her over Sunak in the summer.
He has now staged a stunning turnaround in political fortunes, and vows to do the same for Britain as it confronts decades-high inflation, surging borrowing costs and a forecast imminent recession.
'Choices'
Later Tuesday, the UK’s fifth prime minister in six years began appointing his cabinet, which is key to bed in his new government and stabilise the markets after the recent unprecendented turmoil. He will then need to prepare for his first criticial ‘Prime Minister's Questions’ in parliament on Wednesday, where the Opposition parties will get a chance to grill the newly installed leader in front of the cameras. His first 'PMQ's will be seen as his first vital test, as it is widely watched and commedted on -- if he does not perform, he could be on shakey ground.
Among the appointments, Sunak retained James Cleverly as foreign secretary and Ben Wallace in the defence brief - despite both of them having backed the aborted comeback by Johnson.
The appointments of the pair signaled Sunak’s desire for continuity at the top after the dramatic upheavals seen under the new PM’s predecessor Liz Truss.
Sunak also brought close ally Dominic Raab back as deputy prime minister and justice secretary, and retained Jeremy Hunt as finance minister (chancellor).
Hunt was appointed by Truss just 11 days ago in an ultimately futile bid to salvage her premiership.
He endorsed Sunak on Sunday, writing in the Telegraph that he was a leader "willing to make the choices necessary for our long-term prosperity".
After reversing almost all of Truss's various tax cuts, Hunt has warned "difficult decisions" loom over public spending.
As the head of the Treasury he will unveil the government's much-anticipated medium-term fiscal plans on October 31 alongside independent assessments.
Boris Johnson will unlikely have a seat in cabinet
Sunak must also decide whether to appoint to his cabinet senior MPs who did not support him, such as Mordaunt, in a bid to unify his fractured party.
One so-called big beast unlikely to get a seat around the table is his former boss Boris Johnson, who was driven out in July partly thanks to Sunak's resignation.
The pair met late Saturday, when Johnson reportedly urged him to form a power-sharing partnership.
The ex-leader had only secured the public backing of a few dozen Tory MPs, compared to well over 100 for Sunak, and the offer was rebuffed.
A day later, Johnson bowed to political reality and announced he would not move forward with his audacious comeback.
"You can't govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament," he acknowledged.
'No mandate'
Sunak, a wealthy descendant of immigrants from India and East Africa, is also facing calls for a general election after becoming the latest UK leader who lacks a direct mandate from the electorate.
Pollster Ipsos said Monday that 62 percent of voters want a vote by the end of the year.
"He has no mandate, no answers and no ideas," Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted.
Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose nationalist government wants to hold an independence referendum next year, echoed the comments – while recognising the significance of Britain getting its first Asian leader.
The next election is not due until January 2025 at the latest and opposition parties have no way to force one, unless dozens of Conservative MPs acquiesce.
That appears unlikely as a flurry of polls show Labour with its largest lead in decades.
YouGov modelling Monday showed Sunak faces an uphill battle to restore confidence in both the Tories and himself.
Weekend responses from 12,000 people found that Labour leader Keir Starmer was seen as the "best prime minister" in 389 constituencies, compared with Sunak's 127.
From ‘milestone’, to no ‘hope’
His appointment has been welcomed by most world leaders, from US President Biden to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the exception of Russia.
Biden called it “a groundbreaking milestone and it matters”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media that he hoped Sunak would be able “to successfully overcome all the challenges facing British society and the whole world today.”
He added that he was “ready to continue strengthening the Ukrainian-British strategic partnership”, following months with London as one of Kyiv’s most vocal supporters following Russia’s February invasion.
France’s Emmanuel Macron tweeted that “together we will continue working to tackle the challenges of the moment, including the war in Ukraine and its many consequences for Europe and the world”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, said that in Moscow, “we do not see any preconditions, grounds, or hope that in the foreseeable future there will be any positive changes” in the relationship between the United Kingdom and Russia.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations already on Monday.
“As you become UK PM, I look forward to working closely together on global issues,” Modi wrote.
“Special Diwali wishes to the ‘living bridge’ of UK Indians, as we transform our historic ties into a modern partnership,” he added.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
