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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Charlie Moloney, Léonie Chao-Fong, Andrew Sparrow and Helen Sullivan

Rishi Sunak reshuffle: Braverman named home secretary, Gove returns as levelling up secretary, Mordaunt not promoted – as it happened

​​Rishi Sunak Liz Truss Boris Johnson Penny Mordaunt Downing Street NR Narayana Murthy Buckingham Palace United States

Evening summary

Good evening and thank you for reading today’s live coverage of the appointment of the UK’s third prime minister in as many months, Rishi Sunak.

My name is Charlie Moloney and I have taken you through the last few hours of updates. We are closing the blog now but here is a summary of some of the most significant UK leadership news from today:

  • Suella Braverman returned as home secretary. Downing Street announced her reappointment as home secretary, less than a week after she was forced to resign from the role.

  • Sunak’s leadership rival Penny Mordaunt has been reappointed Commons leader. Downing Street said Mordaunt would be lord president of the council and leader of the House of Commons.

  • Jacob Rees-Mogg resigned as business secretary by sending Sunak a handwritten note. The so-called Member for the 18th Century dated the letter “St Crispin’s Day”.

  • Rishi Sunak said he has spoken with Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon. Scotland’s first minister confirmed she had spoken to Rishi Sunak in what she said was a “constructive call”.

  • Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden discussed the war in Ukraine during a call on Tuesday evening, as the US president called the UK his country’s “closest ally”.

Updated

Tory MP Richard Holden said that Rishi Sunak would “fix’’ the “damage done’’ by Liz Truss’s government and promised an end to the political turmoil of recent weeks.

He told BBC Newsnight: “Undoubtedly damage has been done, but we’ve got to fix that.

“We’ve got to fix that as quickly as possible. And that’s exactly what Rishi is doing tonight.

“And I think with a cabinet which can provide economic credibility, it can provide competence and it can provide unity. That’s the best thing to do. Because all of those things actually play back in a positive feedback loop with the financial markets. When they see instability, then you have a bigger problem, and then it feeds back on itself in the parliamentary party.’’

He continued: “He’ll be able to get his legislation through parliament. You won’t see any further political turmoil.’’

Updated

Joe Biden says the UK remains his country's 'closest ally' in call with Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden discussed the war in Ukraine during a call on Tuesday evening, as the US president called the UK his country’s “closest ally”.

A Downing Street spokesperson told PA Media that Biden congratulated Sunak on his appointment, adding that “the leaders looked forward to working closely together”.

Relations between the two countries have been somewhat strained in recent years amid ongoing UK-EU tensions over post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland, with White House concerns over the impact on peace in the region.

The issue appears to have come up in the call, according to details released by Downing Street, as well as the war in Ukraine and the rising power of China.

The spokesperson said: “President Biden congratulated the prime minister on his appointment and the leaders looked forward to working closely together. President Biden said that the UK remains America’s closest ally, and the prime minister agreed on the huge strength of the relationship.”

President Joe Biden has spoken to prime minister Rishi Sunak and said the UK remains the “closest ally” of the US.
President Joe Biden has spoken to prime minister Rishi Sunak and said the UK remains the ‘closest ally’ of the US. Photograph: White House/ZUMA Press Wire Service/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed she had spoken to Rishi Sunak in what she said was a “constructive call”. Scotland’s first minister had previously complained after not receiving a call from Liz Truss more than a month after she became prime minister, describing the situation as “absurd” and “unprecedented”.

Cabinet reflects 'a unified party', No 10 says as reshuffle concludes

As Rishi Sunak concluded his reshuffle, a No 10 source told PA Media: “This cabinet brings the talents of the party together.

“It reflects a unified party and a cabinet with significant experience, ensuring that at this uncertain time there is continuity at the heart of government.

“The hard work begins now and together, the prime minister’s new cabinet will deliver for the British people.”

Updated

Rishi Sunak said he has spoken with Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon. The prime minister said he “emphasised our duty to work closely together”.

Updated

Johnny Mercer has said his determination to help veterans “remains unbowed” as he returned as veterans’ minister.

Green MP Caroline Lucas has criticised the appointment of Thérèse Coffey as environment secretary. The MP for Brighton Pavilion accused Coffey of making reckless comments in her previous role as health secretary.

Updated

Rishi Sunak has said that he has spoken to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky this evening, as he pledged to continue supporting Ukraine as prime minister.

Updated

Andrew Mitchell appointed development minister

The newly reappointed home secretary Suella Braverman has said she was honoured to join Rishi Sunak’s cabinet.

Updated

Robert Jenrick appointed immigration minister

Gavin Williamson becomes minister without portfolio

Tom Tugendhat appointed security minister

Rishi Sunak will speak to Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon this evening, a Scottish government spokesperson has confirmed.

Sturgeon previously claimed that she did not hear from Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, even once during her time as prime minister.

Updated

The outgoing transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has offered her congratulations to her successor Mark Harper.

Johnny Mercer has been appointed minister for veterans’ affairs in the Cabinet Office, according to Downing Street.

Updated

John Glen appointed chief secretary to the Treasury

John Glen has been appointed chief secretary to the Treasury, Downing Street has confirmed.

He previously served as economic secretary to the Treasury between 2018 and 2022.

Mark Harper becomes transport secretary

Mark Harper has been appointed secretary of state for transport, Downing Street has announced.

He takes over from Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who was only appointed to the role in September.

Updated

Jeremy Quin appointed paymaster general

Jeremy Quin has been appointed paymaster general, and minister for the Cabinet Office, Downing Street has announced.

Quin was previously appointed Home Office minister in September.

Updated

Victoria Prentis becomes attorney general

Rishi Sunak has significantly better figures than Liz Truss received in the run-up to her becoming prime minister, a new YouGov poll shows.

Britons are split on how good a prime minister they think Sunak will be, with just a quarter expecting him to be great or good, 29% think he will be average, and another 29% expect him to be poor or terrible.

Despite these mixed results, they represent a substantial improvement over his predecessor Truss. More than 50% of Britons expected her to do a bad job when asked just ahead of her victory in the Tory leadership race.

Who is in and who is out?

In the cabinet

Jeremy Hunt, chancellor
Had he won the Tory leadership in the summer, Rishi Sunak had been keen to appoint one of his close allies as chancellor, and he is rumoured to prefer Oliver Dowden or Mel Stride, the chair of the Treasury select committee. That may yet happen at the next reshuffle but for now Sunak has kept with Hunt, deciding that stability is the priority. Having been in post for less than a fortnight, it was the consensus position among MPs that Hunt should stay. He is keen to deliver the 31 October fiscal event on schedule, in an attempt to bolster market confidence.

Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Commons
Mordaunt, who stood in both Tory leadership elections this year, would have hoped for a promotion but is instead kept in place. The Commons leader is confident at the dispatch box and is deemed popular with Tory activists.

Dominic Raab, deputy prime minister and justice secretary
Raab got his old jobs back. He kept a largely low profile after Boris Johnson’s administration collapsed in July. But he was a consistent and early backer of Sunak and spoke up for him in the broadcast rounds over the past week.

Oliver Dowden, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster
Once David Cameron’s deputy chief of staff in No 10, Dowden is one of Rishi Sunak’s closest allies, who has long supported his friend’s campaign to become prime minister and may yet become chancellor. Dowden quit as Tory party co-chair in June after a double byelection defeat for the Tories, insisting “serious times require serious leadership”. Rumour suggested he was on the brink of being sacked before making his bombshell resignation, as he had increasingly become sceptical of the Johnson administration.

Suella Braverman, home secretary
Last week Braverman became the shortest-serving home secretary since 1834, having quit after she was found to have breached security rules. Her resignation rocked Liz Truss’s premiership and helped trigger Truss’s resignation the next day. Braverman makes a quick return to office in arguably the standout move of Sunak’s new team.

Simon Hart, chief whip
Hart served in Boris Johnson’s cabinet as Wales secretary before resigning in July 2022. He is a staunch remainer and his appointment suggests Sunak is taking a different approach to restoring harmony within the party.

Thérèse Coffey, environment secretary
The deputy prime minister and health secretary under Liz Truss, Coffey is moved to Defra. She was not seen as friendly towards the National Trust and RSPB during her time as a junior Defra minister and many in the environment sector viewed her as “unenthusiastic” about the role.

Out of the cabinet

Jacob Rees-Mogg
With a letter written by hand, Rees-Mogg resigned as business secretary as Rishi Sunak kicked off his cabinet reshuffle, acknowledging his proximity to the last two regimes.

Wendy Morton
Widely viewed as over-promoted due to her closeness to Truss, confidence in the former chief whip collapsed when confusion broke out over whether a motion on fracking last week would be treated as a confidence vote in Truss’s administration.

Kit Malthouse
Malthouse’s career took off after Johnson lost his battle to remain in No 10 earlier this year. The former policing minister became the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office as part of Johnson’s caretaker government, before accepting the poisoned chalice of becoming the fifth education secretary in just over a year.

Robert Buckland
The outgoing Wales secretary backed Rishi Sunak before switching to Liz Truss in the summer leadership race, making him an enemy of many of Sunak’s allies.

Jake Berry
The former party chair came under fire last month for telling struggling Britons to “go out there and get that new job”. Berry, who was chair of the Northern Research Group, later apologised for the remarks.

Simon Clarke
The former levelling up secretary was chief secretary to the Treasury under Sunak when he was chancellor.

Updated

Lord True has been re-appointed lord privy seal, and leader of the Lords, Downing Street said.

Updated

Nadhim Zahawi says it’s a “great honour” to be appointed the chair of the Conservative party.

David TC Davies appointed Welsh secretary

Chris Heaton-Harris, who championed Boris Johnson in the Conservative party leadership campaign, has held on to his job as Northern Ireland secretary.

His reappointment will fuel fears that Northern Ireland will face a December assembly election after he threatened to call one repeatedly during his few weeks as secretary of state during the Truss administration.

Laws require him to call a new election if the parties cannot come to an agreement on power-sharing 24 weeks after the last election.

The DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, indicated that the party would not be ending its boycott of Stormont over the row over the Northern Ireland protocol until there was a settlement agreeable to both unionists and nationalists.

Sources in two parties said they feared an election would undermine the current EU-UK negotiations over the protocol.

One source said it would be “reckless” and “dangerous”. Another said it would risk the talks as parties “harden their positions” in election campaigns, potentially delaying any settlement for another eight weeks.

The reappointment of James Cleverly as foreign secretary was welcomed by the Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney. He has been leading the negotiations with the European commission vice president Maroš Šefčovič.

Updated

Alister Jack stays as Scotland secretary

Alister Jack has been reappointed as secretary of state for Scotland under Rishi Sunak, a role he has been in since 2019.

Chris Heaton-Harris stays as Northern Ireland secretary

Chris Heaton-Harris is staying as Northern Ireland secretary, after he was first appointed to the role by Liz Truss last month.

Updated

Michelle Donelan reappointed culture secretary

Michelle Donelan has been reappointed as secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, Downing Street has announced.

Updated

Gavin Williamson has been just been seen entering No 10.

Kemi Badenoch stays as international trade secretary

Kemi Badenoch has been reappointed international trade secretary, Downing Street has confirmed.

Badenoch has also been appointed women and equalities minister. She served as equalities minister between February and July.

Updated

Michael Gove back in cabinet as levelling up secretary

Michael Gove returns to his former role as levelling up secretary after he was dramatically sacked by Boris Johnson in July.

Updated

The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has spoken out about the controversial appointment of Suella Braverman in the Home Office.

Sunak has “put party before country” by making Braverman home secretary just days after she was forced to resign for beaching the ministerial code, Cooper said.

Updated

Steve Barclay appointed health secretary

Downing Street has announced the appointment of Steve Barclay as secretary of state for health and social care.

Barclay served as health secretary from July until September, during which he was confronted by a woman who said the government had done “bugger all” to fix record-high ambulance wait times.

Updated

Thérèse Coffey appointed environment secretary

Thérèse Coffey, who was deputy prime minister until today, has now been appointed secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

Updated

The appointment of Gillian Keegan as education secretary is a real signal about Rishi Sunak’s priorities for her department, the Guardian’s Jessica Elgot writes.

The defence secretary Ben Wallace says he is grateful to the new prime minister for his reappointment.

Mel Stride appointed work and pensions secretary

Gillian Keegan appointed education secretary - the fifth since July

Downing Street has announced the appointment of Gillian Keegan as secretary of state for education. It’s a big promotion for Keegan, who only became an MP in 2017.

Keegan becomes the fifth education secretary in the space of just four months.

Updated

The appointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary, just six days after she was forced to resign for beaching the ministerial code, has raised eyebrows.

Braverman was sacked by Liz Truss on Wednesday because she sent an official document from her personal email to a fellow MP, in a serious breach of ministerial rules.

Sky’s Beth Rigby describes Downing Street’s announcement as controversial and surprising.

Robert Peston from ITV points out that Rishi Sunak just hours ago pledged to lead a government with “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level”.

Tim Shipman from the Sunday Times points out that Braverman did not stand down last week because she leaked a meaningless document.

Updated

Penny Mordaunt reappointed Commons leader

Downing Street has announced the reappointment of Penny Mordaunt as lord president of the council and leader of the House of Commons.

As the Guardian’s Jessica Elgot writes, the announcement is a snub for Mordaunt who may have hoped for a promotion after running in the leadership race.

Updated

Alister Jack and David Davies have both entered Downing Street in the past few minutes.

James Cleverly says he is honoured to be reappointed as the foreign secretary, adding that he will continue to “protect UK interests overseas and support to our friends and allies around the world”.

Cleverly earlier said he had spoken with Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, and reiterated Britain’s support for Kyiv in the face of Russian aggression.

Kuleba has also now tweeted about the call with his British counterpart:

Updated

Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, has gone into No 10. And while the reshuffle has been going on Steve Baker, a Northern Ireland minister, has posted a blunt message on Twitter aimed at the DUP. He frames it as a message from civil society leaders to all politicians in Northern Ireland, and he says they should reform the power-sharing executive, so that it can start distributing funding.

But it is only the DUP that is blocking the re-establishment of the executive, and so the tweet is implicitly very critical of the party. Tory ministers from the UK government have not normally been willing to address the party like this in public in the past.

I am finishing for the day, but Léonie Chao-Fong is still here and will carry on with the reshuffle coverage.

Updated

Grant Shapps appointed business secretary

Suella Braverman returns as home secretary

Downing Street has announced Suella Braverman’s reappointment as home secretary, less than a week after she was forced to resign from the role.

Braverman, a leading rightwinger, was sacked by Liz Truss last Wednesday because she sent an official document from her personal email to a fellow MP, in a serious breach of ministerial rules.

Updated

These are from Sky’s Beth Rigby.

Michelle Donelan, the culture secretary, and Kemi Badenoch, the international trade secretary, have both gone into No 10.

People have been wondering why no women are getting promoted. This is from the Sun’s Noa Hoffman.

Oliver Dowden rejoins government as Cabinet Office minister

And Oliver Dowden, who was party chair under Boris Johnson (until he resigned after two byelection defeats), has been made chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. That means he will replace Nadhim Zahawi as the Cabinet Office minister responsible for playing a “fixer” role, addressing problems that need cross-government grip.

Dowden did a similar job for Boris Johnson from July 2019 to February 2020 when he was also based at the Cabinet Office, although in that incarnation he had the title paymaster general.

Updated

Nadhim Zahawi becomes Conservative party chair

Nadhim Zahawi, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, has been made Conservative party chair. His government title is minister without portfolio.

This is a sideways move. As Tory chair, he might have a higher profile. But in his previous job he styled himself as the government’s “chief operating officer”.

From Faisal Islam, the BBC’s economics editor

Here are some more message of congratulations for Rishi Sunak from world leaders.

From Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor

From Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister

This translates as:

Congratulations to @RishiSunak, from today, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. We will continue to strengthen our relationships for the benefit of citizens. Only through solidarity and unity will we be able to face the challenges and consequences of the war in Ukraine.

From Justin Trudeau, the Canadian PM

From Fumio Kishida, the Japanese PM

Michael Gove, the former (and new? – see 4.21pm) levelling up secretary, has arrived at No 10.

From my colleague Pippa Crerar

Ben Wallace reappointed defence secretary

Ben Wallace has been reappointed defence secretary, No 10 says.

Updated

James Cleverly reappointed foreign secretary

James Cleverly has been reappointed foreign secretary.

That means Penny Mordaunt’s hopes of getting that post have been dashed.

Updated

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, says “tough” times are ahead.

Jeremy Hunt has tweeted to say that he is “honoured” to continue as the chancellor of the exchequer.

Simon Hart appointed new chief whip

Simon Hart, the former Welsh secretary, is the new chief whip, Bloomberg reports.

UPDATE: This has been confirmed by No 10.

Updated

US president Joe Biden mispronounced Rishi Sunak’s name as he congratulated him during a Diwali celebration at the White House on Monday.

The former home secretary Suella Braverman has just entered No 10.

Raab reinstated as deputy PM and justice secretary, regaining posts he held under Johnson

Dominic Raab, who was justice secretary and deputy PM under Boris Johnson, has got both his old jobs back. He was sacked by Liz Truss, having criticised her strongly during the summer leadership contest.

There was speculation that he wanted to be foreign secretary. But it is hard to complain about being deputy PM.

Nadhim Zahawi and Grant Shapps have arrived at Downing Street in the last few moments.

Oliver Dowden, James Cleverly and Dominic Raab have been seen entering No 10 in the past half hour, but no one has yet been seen leaving.

So far no women have walked through the No 10 door.

Updated

Oliver Dowden, the former Tory chair, is going into No 10, too. This is from the BBC’s David Wallace Lockhart:

Updated

James Cleverly has just arrived at No 10. He is foreign secretary as of now, and wants to keep the job.

Simon Hart, the former Welsh secretary, is thought to be the new chief whip, the BBC’s Vicki Young reports.

Jeremy Hunt reappointed as chancellor

No 10 has just announced that Jeremy Hunt has been reappointed as chancellor.

That is what everyone expected and will reassure the markets, which already seem to like the reshuffle a lot. (See 2.55pm.)

Updated

Rees-Mogg defends his bill getting rid of retained EU law from Commons backbenches after his resignation

In the Commons, MPs are debating the retained EU law (revocation and reform) bill. The bill was drawn up by Jacob Rees-Mogg when he was business secretary, and it even has his name on the face of it, but Rees-Mogg resigned this morning (see 12.51pm) and the debate was opened by Dean Russell, a business minister (at least for now).

Patrick Grady, the former SNP MP who now sits as an independent, raised a point of order to describe the bill as a “vanity project” for a backbencher. He said:

I have the bill in front of me and it says it is presented to the house by Mr Secretary Rees-Mogg, but the member for North East Somerset is sitting on the backbenches of the house. Could you explain to the house how on Earth we can possibly proceed with what was essentially a vanity project for that particular individual? Would it not be better if he tries his luck with a 10-minute rule bill or in the private members’ bill ballot?

In response, Dame Eleanor Laing, the deputy Speaker, said that while ministers change, “government, however, is seamless”. She said it did not matter whose name was on the bill.

Rees-Mogg might have been expected to take the afternoon off. But he has been in the chamber, and has just delivered a speech defending his bill from the backbenches. He dismissed claims that getting rid of EU laws would lead to protections being removed. And he claimed the bill would be good for devolution, because devolved authorities would get powers previously exercised by Brussels.

The bill has huge consequences, which my colleague Lisa O’Carroll explains here.

Even though the bill was finalised during Liz Truss’s premiership, Rishi Sunak is unlikely to change it. When he ran for the Tory leadership in the summer, his promise about getting rid of EU law went beyond even hers. He pledged to review all 2,400 EU regulations still on the UK statute book, with the first set of recommendations made “within the first 100 days”. (See 9.06am.)

Updated

Dominic Raab has just been spotted going into No 10, the first to see Rishi Sunak.

Updated

Rishi Sunak starts his premiership slightly behind the Labour leader Keir Starmer, according to the latest polling by Ipsos.

The poll, taken before Sunak won the Conservative leadership race, shows that 36% think he would do a good job as prime minister. A similar proportion (32%) expect him to do a bad job.

In comparison, 42% of respondents expect Starmer would do a good job, against 28% who say he would do a bad job.

Photographers and reporters outside No 10.
Photographers and reporters outside No 10. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Rishi Sunak is back in No 10, the FT’s George Parker reports. That means the appointment/promotion phase of the reshuffle should be about to start.

ITV’s Robert Peston has a good summary of the state of play – although 11 sackings is probably one too many, because Alok Sharma has been demoted, not sacked.

The Guardian Live team are holding a panel discussion tomorrow night on how long the Tory government can survive. Hugh Muir is chairing it, and the other Guardian contributors are John Crace, Polly Toynbee and Jessica Elgot. It starts at 7pm, and you can order tickets here.

Pound rises and government borrowing costs fall as Sunak axes some of Truss's cabinet

The pound soared and the cost of government borrowing dropped as ministers appointed by former prime minister Liz Truss resigned en masse, PA Media reports. PA says:

Sterling gained more than a cent against the dollar within the space of an hour as several ministers stepped down.

By around 2.30pm the currency was trading at a little over $1.14.

Meanwhile, 30-year gilt yields, which determine the interest that the government pays on some of its loans, dropped 0.15 percentage points to 3.6%.

Updated

Alok Sharma demoted as he loses right to attend cabinet

Downing Street has announced that Alok Sharma will remain in his role as COP26 president but he will no longer be a minister or attend Cabinet.

Updated

Kit Malthouse leaves as education secretary

Kit Malthouse has confirmed he is leaving as education secretary.

Updated

Simon Clarke quits post as levelling up secretary

Simon Clarke has left his post as levelling up secretary. It is not clear from his tweet whether he was sacked, or whether he quit “voluntarily” to save face.

But it is no surprise that he has gone. He was one of Liz Truss’s key allies, and during the Tory leadership contest in the summer he often criticised Rishi Sunak quite harshly on her behalf, at one point co-authoring an article accusing him of favouring “a Labour-lite economic policy”.

Updated

Rishi Sunak arrives at No 10 Downing Street
Rishi Sunak entering No 10 Downing Street. Photograph: syllogi Admin/Simon Walker/No10 Downing Street
Sunak received with applause at Downing Street.
Sunak received with applause at Downing Street. Photograph: syllogi Admin/Simon Walker/No10 Downing Street

The US president, Joe Biden, has offered his congratulations to Rishi Sunak, adding that he is looking forward to “enhancing our cooperation on issues critical to global security and prosperity, including continuing our strong support for Ukraine.”

UPDATE: Biden also spoke about Sunak’s election victory yesterday, at a Diwali celebration in the White House. But unfortunately he mangled the new PM’s name.

Updated

The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, says he has just spoken with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, suggesting that he may stay in his role.

Updated

Ranil Jayawardena leaves as environment secretary

Ranil Jayawardena has announced he will stand aside as the environment secretary, adding that the new PM has his support.

Updated

Jacob Rees-Mogg has posted his resignation letter, dated “St Crispin’s Day”.

The letter reads:

Many congratulations on your appointment as prime minister. I wish you every success.

As you will rightly want your own team I would be grateful if you would accept my resignation as Secretary of State for Business, energy and industrial strategy to The King. It has been an honour to serve in this and previous roles but having completed some of today’s Parliamentary business it is time to go.

In the interests of the nation the Conservative Party must unite under your leadership and I shall do all I can to support you.

Updated

Jake Berry resigns as Conservative party chairman

The Conservative party chairman and minister without portfolio, Jake Berry, has also announced he is leaving.

Updated

Robert Buckland leaving as Welsh secretary

Robert Buckland says he is leaving government as secretary of state for Wales and will be supporting Rishi Sunak from the backbenches.

Using rather peculiar phraseology, he writes in his letter: “At my request, I am writing to submit my resignation letter from the government.”

It is his way of saying he has not been sacked. But if he had not jumped, he was expected to be pushed, having at first endorsed Sunak for leader in the summer before un-endorsing him and backing Liz Truss instead. (See 9.51pm.)

Updated

Kit Malthouse is leaving as education secretary, according to reports.

The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar is hearing that Grant Shapps may be lined up for the business secretary role, filling the vacancy created by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s departure.

Updated

Minister of state for development Vicky Ford has also confirmed she is leaving government.

Chloe Smith leaves as work and pensions secretary

Chloe Smith has announced she is leaving government as work and pensions secretary.

The Norwich North MP, who backed Rishi Sunak in the Conservative party leadership race, said she would be supporting the new PM from the backbenches.

Updated

Sunak ally says he hopes government will become 'more boring' under new PM

Huw Merriman, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons transport committee, was on Radio 4’s World at One speaking on behalf of Rishi Sunak. Sarah Montague, the presenter, introduced him saying he had been put up as an interviewee by No 10, and Merriman said he was speaking as someone who supported Sunak and knew him well.

Merriman said he expected government to get “more boring” under Sunak. He told the programme:

He’s going to run Number 10 Downing Street like a chief executive would run his own office and that’s something that … we’ve missed. And I think that would just bring an air of calm and solidity.

In that sense, we don’t want any excitement, we don’t want any more turbulence. I’d imagine we will just hear detailed focus on policies and what we’re going to do to try and fix the economy.

And there won’t be these large issues that blow up under him because he’s a very calm and measured person.

So in a sense we might be more boring as a government, but actually I think that’s what people want. We’ve had enough excitement.

Earlier this year Keir Starmer complained to his shadow cabinet about comments in the media saying he was boring. It is interesting to see that boring has now become a virtue.

Merriman also said that he expected Jeremy Hunt to remain as chancellor, although he stressed that he had not been told this would happen.

Chief whip Wendy Morton leaves government

The chief whip, Wendy Morton, has confirmed she is returning to the backbenches.

Updated

The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar is hearing that Suella Braverman could be making a return to the cabinet, perhaps even reprising her home secretary role less than a week after she left the job.

Updated

Keir Starmer has congratulated Rishi Sunak on becoming prime minister and “making history” as Britain’s first Asian PM.

The Labour leader again called for a general election.

Rishi Sunak is thought to be in the Commons now, meeting ministers who are being sacked or demoted. Prime ministers normally do the sacking element of the reshuffle in parliament because people losing their jobs can come and go without being photographed, or seen by journalists. Lobby journalists have access to some areas of parliament, but other parts are off limits and trying to doorstep the PM’s office is definitely not allowed.

According Sky’s Beth Rigby, Wendy Morton, the chief whip, and Ranil Jayawardena, the environment secretary, have both been summoned. But they were Truss acolytes who were seen as lightweight appointments to cabinet.

Updated

Brandon Lewis resigns as justice secretary

Brandon Lewis has resigned as justice secretary.

In his resignation statement, Lewis congratulated Rishi Sunak on his accession and said he has his support from the back benches.

Updated

Rishi Sunak's first speech at PM - snap verdict

That was not a speech likely to be remembered for long. And it was not really a substitute for the leadership campaign manifesto speech that we never got from Rishi Sunak this time around (although he did publish a lot of policy ideas in the summer). But the tone was welcome (serious, realistic), the delivery was a big improvement on yesterday (when Sunak spoke at CCHQ), and two qualities did stand out.

First, candour. Sunak was blunt, and honest, about two things: his predecessor made mistakes, and “difficult decisions” will have to be made as the government restores economic credibility. After two prime ministers with a weakness for promising endless sunshine-style implausibilities, many Britons may find it a relief to have someone at No 10 with a more grounded outlook. But it won’t be fun. While Sunak restated his support the 2019 manifesto, the only policy priority he firmly stressed was his commitment to getting government borrowing down. Normally Tory leaders take office saying they want to bring taxation down, but Sunak said nothing to suggest that this is a possibility. Probably because it isn’t.

And, second, politeness. It is good manners, as well as sensible politics, to be polite about your predecessors, and Sunak managed it well. He paid tribute to Boris Johnson, which he did not really need to. And, although he firmly insisted that Liz Truss made mistakes in office, he very tactfully paid tribute to her motives (“she was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country. It is a noble aim”). One of Churchill’s best speeches was the eulogy he delivered for Neville Chamberlain after he died, when he found a way to praise the PM gulled by Hitler (“… deceived and cheated by a wicked man. But what were these hopes in which he was disappointed? … surely among the most noble and benevolent instincts of the human heart – the love of peace”). Churchill’s speech was great oratory. This wasn’t, but it suggests not just that Sunak is serious about uniting the party but that he has some of the personal skills required to achieve it.

Rishi Sunak speaking in Downing Street.
Rishi Sunak speaking in Downing Street. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Updated

Jacob Rees-Mogg resigns as business secretary

Jacob Rees-Mogg has resigned as business secretary, according to reports.

A source close to Rees-Mogg told the PA news agency:

He knows he was very close to the previous two regimes and it didn’t seem likely he was going to be appointed in the new cabinet.

He’s happy to support the prime minister from the back benches.

In the summer, Rees-Mogg said he could never serve in a Sunak cabinet because of Sunak’s “disloyalty” to Boris Johnson. See 9.58am.

Updated

The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, arrives in Downing Street.
The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, arrives in Downing Street. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Rishi Sunak arrives in Downing Street.
Rishi Sunak waving outside No 10. Photograph: Guy Bell/Rex/Shutterstock
Sunak greets the media.
Sunak greets the media. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Updated

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has also tweeted her congratulations to Rishi Sunak.

The EU “counts on a strong relationship” with the UK “in full respect of our agreements”, she added.

Updated

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has offered his congratulations to Rishi Sunak, adding that he hopes the new PM will successfully overcome “all the challenges facing British society and the world today”.

Zelenskiy says he is ready to continue strengthening Ukraine and Britain’s strategic partnership.

Updated

The Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, says Rishi Sunak’s “refusal” to call a general election “shows the Conservative party does not trust the British people”.

In a statement published immediately after Sunak’s speech, Davey called on the new prime minister to confirm that benefits and pensions will be uprated in line with inflation and that there will be no spending cuts to our public services.

He said:

The public will be rightly furious that they have been denied a say, while Conservative MPs get to decide who runs our country.

We didn’t hear any details from Rishi Sunak on his plans to fix the damage to our economy and the NHS caused by years of Conservative chaos and incompetence.

Sunak must confirm that benefits and pensions will be uprated in line with inflation and that there will be no spending cuts to our crucial public services. It’s the very least he can do to reassure struggling families and pensioners worried sick about the winter ahead.

It can’t be right that the public is kept in the dark while the prime minister makes promises and dishes out cabinet posts to Conservative colleagues behind closed doors.

Updated

Downing Street has released the full text of the Rishi Sunak’s speech. It is not on the No 10 website yet, but I have added it as updates to the three posts covering the speech – at 11.52am, 11.54am and 12.01am – and so if you read those, you will have the whole thing. You may need to refresh the page to get the updates to appear.

Updated

France’s president Emmanuel Macron has also tweeted to congratulate Rishi Sunak, adding that they will work together to tackle challenges, including the war in Ukraine.

Updated

Boris Johnson has offered his congratulations to Rishi Sunak, adding that now is the time to give the new prime minister their “full and wholehearted” support.

Sunak says he is 'not daunted' by challenge and will govern in 'very best traditions of my party'

Sunak pays tribute to Boris Johnson “for his incredible achievements as prime minister”.

The mandate earned by the party in 2019 does not belong to any individual, he says.

(That is Sunak’s way of countering claims his appointment means a new election is required.)

He says he will deliver on the promise of that manifesto. He goes on:

All I can say is that I am not daunted.

I know the high office I have accepted and I hope to live up to its demands.

But when the opportunity to serve comes along, you cannot question the moment, only your willingness.

So I stand here before you ready to lead our country into the future. To put your needs above politics, to reach out and build a government that represents the very best traditions of my party.

And that’s it. The speech is over.

UPDATE: Sunak said:

I will always be grateful to Boris Johnson for his incredible achievements as prime minister, and I treasure his warmth and generosity of spirit.

And I know he would agree that the mandate my party earned in 2019 is not the sole property of any one individual. It is a mandate that belongs to and unites all of us.

And the heart of that mandate is our manifesto. I will deliver on its promise: a stronger NHS, better schools, safer streets, control of our borders, protecting our environment, supporting our armed forces, levelling up and building an economy that embraces the opportunities of Brexit, where businesses invest, innovate, and create jobs.

I understand how difficult this moment is. After the billions of pounds it cost us to combat Covid, after all the dislocation that caused in the midst of a terrible war that must be seen successfully to its conclusions, I fully appreciate how hard things are.

And I understand too that I have work to do to restore trust after all that has happened.

All I can say is that I am not daunted.

I know the high office I have accepted and I hope to live up to its demands.

But when the opportunity to serve comes along, you cannot question the moment, only your willingness.

So I stand here before you, ready to lead our country into the future.

To put your needs above politics.

To reach out and build a government that represents the very best traditions of my party.

Together we can achieve incredible things.

We will create a future worthy of the sacrifices so many have made and fill tomorrow, and everyday thereafter with hope.

Updated

Sunak says 'difficult decisions' to come because he will not leave next generation to sort out debt problem

Sunak says there are “difficult decisions to come”. He goes on:

But you saw me during Covid doing everything I could to protect people and businesses with schemes like furlough.

There are always limits more so now than ever. But I promise you this I will bring that same compassion to the challenges we face today.

The government I lead will not leave the next generation, your children and grandchildren, with a debt to settle that we were too weak to pay ourselves.

UPDATE: Sunak said:

And I have been elected as leader of my party, and your prime minister, in part, to fix [those mistakes – see 11.52am.].

And that work begins immediately.

I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda.

This will mean difficult decisions to come.

But you saw me during Covid, doing everything I could, to protect people and businesses, with schemes like furlough.

There are always limits, more so now than ever, but I promise you this – I will bring that same compassion to the challenges we face today.

The government I lead will not leave the next generation – your children and grandchildren – with a debt to settle that we were too weak to pay ourselves.

I will unite our country, not with words, but with action.

I will work day in and day out to deliver for you.

This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.

Trust is earned. And I will earn yours.

Updated

Sunak says he has been elected PM to 'fix' the 'mistakes' made by Truss

Rishi Sunak starts by saying he has just accepted the king’s invitation to form a government.

He says it is right to explain why he is here.

Right now, our country is facing a profound economic crisis.

The aftermath of Covid still lingers and the war in Ukraine has destabilised markets the world over.

He says Liz Truss was right to want to improve growth. That was a “noble aim”. He admired her “restlessness”.

But mistakes were made, he says.

He says he has been elected PM to “fix” those mistakes.

UPDATE: Sunak said:

I have just been to Buckingham Palace and accepted His Majesty The King’s invitation to form a government in his name.

It is only right to explain why I am standing here as your new Prime Minister.

Right now our country is facing a profound economic crisis.

The aftermath of Covid still lingers.

Putin’s war in Ukraine has destabilised energy markets and supply chains the world over.

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.

But some mistakes were made.

Not borne of ill will or bad intentions. Quite the opposite, in fact. But mistakes nonetheless.

Updated

Rishi Sunak is arriving at No 10 with someone shouting “Rishi out”. He is not even in yet.

You can read extracts from the speeches that David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson gave in Downing Street when they became PM here.

And here is a summary of Liz Truss’s.

Sunak about to deliver first speech as prime minister

Rishi Sunak is leaving Buckingham Palace.

It is not far to Downing Street, and that means we will be hearing his first speech as prime minister very soon.

The photographer recording the meeting between Rishi Sunak and King Charles has been very diplomatic. There is quite a height difference between the two men (Charles is 1.78m tall, according to Wikipedia, while Sunak is 1.7m), but you would never guess that from the pictures. (See 11.38am.)

Rishi Sunak appointed prime minister

Rishi Sunak has been appointed prime minister. We now have the photograph of his audience with the king.

King Charles III with Rishi Sunak at Buckingham Palace.
King Charles III with Rishi Sunak at Buckingham Palace. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Updated

My colleagues Rowena Mason and Aubrey Allegretti have a good account of how Boris Johnson’s weekend campaign for the Tory leadership collapsed. But David Maddox has an even more detailed account in the Daily Express that is well worth a read. No paper has supported Johnson as enthusiastically and uncritically as the Express, and Maddox says some of his allies are now furious at his decision to withdraw from the contest.

Here are some extracts from the article.

As news broke that Mr Johnson had decided to pull the plug on his leadership election bid late on Saturday night several of his loyal MPs were still on the phones canvassing their colleagues for him blissfully unaware of what was going on. One was an assistant whip Joy Morrissey, the American-born MP for Beaconsfield, who was literally, according to a colleague, explaining over the phone to another MP why Mr Johnson needed to be leader again less than 50 days since he had been booted out of office …

A veteran Tory MP said: “Boris could not have done a better job than if he had been acting as Agent Rishi.

“By allowing his candidacy to run he killed off any chance of a rightwing candidate going forward in this election. He has handed it to Sunak, a plutocrat with no real principles at all” …

The ERG of Tory Brexiteers chaired by Mark Francois had its meeting at 10.30am on Monday morning but many members, while suspicious of Sunak, felt they had been “betrayed” by Mr Johnson in 2019 when he failed to keep his promises to them.

Appointees to the cabinet never materialised, including Sir Iain Duncan Smith as deputy PM and Owen Patterson for Northern Ireland …

But the decision not to run provoked fury in the group.

“He’s an absolute ****!” one blasted. “He has killed off our chances.”

Updated

When Rishi Sunak returns to Downing Street in the next few minutes to deliver his first speech to the nation, he won’t be applaued by a claque of supporters, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports. The team has decided that that would give the wrong impression.

At Buckingham Palace Rishi Sunak was welcomed by Sir Clive Alderton, principal private secretary to the king and queen consort, the monarch’s equerry, Lt Col Jonny Thompson, and Sir Edward Young, joint principal private secretary to the king, PA Media reports.

Rishi Sunak arriving at Buckingham Palace.
Rishi Sunak arriving at Buckingham Palace. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Updated

Rishi Sunak is now on his way to Buckingham Palace for his audience with the king.

Updated

Truss's speech - verdict from Twitter commentariat

And this is what political journalists and commentators are saying on Twitter about Liz Truss’s speech.

From the Economist’s Matthew Holehouse

From my colleague Pippa Crerar

From the FT’s George Parker

From the Daily Mirror’s John Stevens

From Politico’s Jack Blanchard

From Lewis Goodall from the News Agents podcast

From the Critic’s Robert Hutton

From Tom Harwood from GB News

From my colleague Jessica Elgot

From Sky’s Beth Rigby

From the FT’s Stefan Stern

From the broadcaster and author Steve Richards

From Talk TV’s Kate McCann

From my colleague John Crace

Updated

Liz Truss arriving at Buckingham Palace.
Liz Truss arriving at Buckingham Palace. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

From ITV’s Harry Horton

Liz Truss’ husband Hugh O’Leary with their daughters Frances and Liberty listening to Truss’s speech in Downing Street.
Liz Truss’ husband, Hugh O’Leary, with their daughters, Frances and Liberty, listening to Truss’s speech in Downing Street. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Updated

Here is the full text of Liz Truss’s farewell speech.

Liz Truss giving her farewell speech.
Liz Truss giving her farewell speech. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Updated

Truss's valedictory speech - snap verdict

It was all rather Boris Johnson; not because she quoted from Seneca (although at least when Johnson quoted from the classics, you knew he had read them in the original), but because she did not apologise, or express any contrition at all for the problems created by the decisions she took as prime minister – not just for her party, but for the country as a whole. In the past, she has accepted that the mini-budget went too far, too fast, and that she campaigned on a policy platform that turned out to be undeliverable. But, listening to this speech, you would conclude that she can’t see that she did anything wrong.

But it was not just that; the key argument from the speech was that actually she was right after all, and that the UK needs exactly the sort of “bold” policy agenda that she was offering. (See 10.21am.) In the summer Marc Stears, who taught Truss at Oxford, wrote in an article that her essays were always “creative” and “unconventional”, and that she would stick to her theories even after being presented with “fact after fact” showing she was wrong. Her thesis today was much the same – original, certainly, but untethered to what actually happened.

Liz Truss speaking outside No 10.
Liz Truss speaking outside No 10. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Liz Truss is now on her way to Buckingham Palace to tender her resignation to the king.

Updated

Truss emphasises her support for Ukraine, and says she wishes Rishi Sunak “every success for the good of our country”.

She thanks her family and friends, her team at No 10 and her protection officers.

And she says she looks forward to spending more time in her South West Norfolk constituency and serving it from the constituency.

And that’s it.

Updated

Truss says being PM has left her 'more convinced than ever' that UK needs bold policy change

Truss says her time in office has left her “more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the challenges that we face”. She goes on:

As the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote, it’s not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

We simply cannot afford to be a low-growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth and where there are huge divides between different parts of our country.

We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently. This means delivering more freedom for our own citizens. And restoring power to democratic institutions. It means lower taxes so people can keep more of the money that they earn.

Updated

Liz Truss arrives. Her supporters applaud.

It has been a huge honour to be PM, she says, in particular leading the nation in leading the mourning for the queen.

She says the government has acted “urgently and decisively’ on the side of families and businesses.

In just a short period, this government has acted urgently and decisively on the side of hardworking families and businesses.

We reversed the national insurance increase. We helped millions of households with their energy bills and help thousands of businesses avoid bankruptcy. We are taking back our energy independence so we are never again beholden to global market fluctuations or malign foreign powers.

Updated

Truss tells her cabinet they have had 'some significant achievements' during her short premiership

Downing Street has just released this readout from Liz Truss’s final cabinet.

The prime minister opened cabinet by thanking ministers for their support. She said that in the short time the government had been in place they had secured some significant achievements.

She said the government ensured the country was able to mourn the passing of her majesty the Queen and to welcome his majesty King Charles III as the new monarch, a vital moment in the history of our country.

The prime minister said the government acted to immediately protect the public and businesses from unsustainably high energy bills – bringing in the energy price guarantee to save the typical household around £700 this winter.

The government also stuck to its pledge to scrap the rise in national insurance and demonstrated its steadfast commitment in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s war of aggression.

The deputy prime minister and business secretary thanked the prime minister for her commitment to the country at a difficult time. They said she had delivered on the three priorities she set out at the start of her premiership: protecting people from high energy bills, cutting taxes and putting in place a plan for patients.

The defence secretary updated cabinet on the latest situation in Ukraine and the continued threat posed by Russia’s actions. He added that her work as foreign secretary and as prime minister had ensured the UK continued to play a leading role in the response, and that countries around the world had certainty that the UK would remain a strong security partner.

The prime minister concluded by saying her time in the role had been a huge privilege and that her successor will have her support as they now build on the important steps already taken by cabinet to support the country.

Updated

Here is the text of the short speech Liz Truss delivered in Downing Street last week when she announced her resignation.

Liz Truss’s staff and allies are now waiting in Downing Street for her valedictory speech.

The BBC’s Susana Mendonça has another podium picture.

Liz Truss is due to deliver her final speech as PM at 10.15am. As Darren McCaffrey from GB News reports, the lectern is already out.

Updated

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the business secretary, is another cabinet minister likely to be drawing up alternative plans for his future this morning. Yesterday he said he would support Rishi Sunak as PM. But during the summer leadership contest he said he could never serve in a Sunak cabinet. He told Sky News in July:

I think as a chancellor, he made decisions that were of the left rather than on the right, that he was a tax increasing chancellor. I didn’t support the decisions he made.

When asked whether he would serve in a Sunak government, he replied:

No, of course I wouldn’t. I believe his behaviour towards Boris Johnson, his disloyalty means that I could not possibly support him. And he wouldn’t want me in his cabinet anyway.

Jacob Rees-Mogg leaving Downing Street after cabinet this morning.
Jacob Rees-Mogg leaving Downing Street after cabinet this morning. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

Boris Johnson and Liz Truss both used their opening cabinet reshuffles as exercises in rewarding loyalty as much as, or more than, promoting talent. Rishi Sunak is expected to make appointments on a more meritocratic basis, but loyalty won’t be forgotten, and one person probably feeling very nervous this morning is Sir Robert Buckland, the Welsh secretary.

In the summer leadership contest Buckland originally supported Sunak. But then, in a highly unusual move, he switched to backing Liz Truss. By that point she was the favourite, and Buckland’s move raised a lot of eyebrows because MPs who pledge allegiance to one candidate almost never normally switch in public, because it makes them look inconsistent and opportunist.

Buckland kept his Welsh secretary job in Truss’s first reshuffle (although if he was hoping for a return to his previous cabinet job, justice secretary, which was going to be vacant when Truss sacked Dominic Raab, he was disappointed). But this morning, Buckland may be thinking his summer Judas performance was not so wise after all.

According to Ben Riley-Smith in today’s Telegraph, two former Welsh secretaries are in the running to replace Buckland. Riley-Smith says:

The job of Welsh secretary appears to be a two-way battle between Simon Hart and Stephen Crabb. Robert Buckland, the current occupant, flipped on Mr Sunak in the summer, switching sides to back Ms Truss as she built momentum – a fact not forgotten by his allies.

Robert Buckland arriving for cabinet this morning.
Robert Buckland arriving for cabinet this morning. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Updated

Cabinet is over, and ministers have been leaving. Like Liz Truss’s premiership, it did not last long.

James Cleverly, the foreign secretry (for now), leaving Downing Street after cabinet this morning.
James Cleverly, the foreign secretry (for now), leaving Downing Street after cabinet this morning. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, did not speak to reporters as he arrived for cabinet this morning, but with his hands he gave a gesture that seemed to imply that he has no idea as to what will happen to him in the reshuffle.

Wallace is very popular with Tory party members, but there is a good chance that he will be moved. In recent months people have been briefing papers on his behalf saying that he would resign if a new prime minister refused to stick to the plan to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by the end of the decade. But Rishi Sunak is refusing to make that commitment.

The two also clashed when Sunak was chancellor, and in the summer Wallace publicly critcised Sunak’s stance on defence spending. Wallace backed Liz Truss for the leadership.

Ben Wallace arriving for cabinet this morning.
Ben Wallace arriving for cabinet this morning. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

This is from Anne Alexander from ITV’s Good Morning Britain. Liz Truss only became prime minister seven weeks ago today – she did not even manage 50 days as PM – and a removal van has arrived, presumably because she is clearing her belongings from the Downing Street flat. If her moving experience was anything like most people’s, perhaps some of her stuff never got out of the cardboard boxes in the first place.

Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons (right), arriving for cabinet this morning with Wendy Morton, the chief whip. Mordaunt wants to be foreign secretary, and reportedly is likely to get the post in Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle. Morton is expected to be replaced.
Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons (right), arriving for cabinet this morning with Wendy Morton, the chief whip. Mordaunt wants to be foreign secretary, and reportedly is likely to get the post in Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle. Morton is expected to be replaced. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Rishi Sunak ran for the Tory leadership this month without realising any manifesto or policy agenda at all, but we do have quite a good idea as to what he thinks because when he was a candidate in the summer, he announced a raft of policies. One announcement was that he would review all 2,400 EU regulations still on the UK statute book, with the first set of recommendations made “within the first 100 days”. This pledge allowed him to leapfrog Liz Truss in Brexit zealotry; she also pledged to review all retained EU law, with a view to scrapping the unnecessary regulations, but only by the end of 2023.

In an interview on the Today programme Jill Rutter, a former senior civil servant who now works at the Institute for Government thinktank, said that Sunak would be wise to abandon this campaign pledge. It would be impossible to review all retained EU law that quickly, she said. She told the programme:

If you look at my old department (Defra), they have about 500 pieces of law they need to look at … even if they worked every day to the end of 2023 they’d be reviewing whether they keep or allow to lapse a piece of law a day, rewriting where necessary.

As you can see, difficult to draft, difficult to get the people to do it, impossible to have any decent level of parliamentary scrutiny.

Updated

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, arriving at No 10 this morning for Liz Truss’s final cabinet.
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, arriving at No 10 this morning for Liz Truss’s final cabinet. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Robert Halfon, the Tory MP who chairs the Commons education committee and a champion of “blue collar” Conservatism, told Times Radio this morning that he thought the public might give his party “one last chance”. Halfon, who backed Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest, said:

If we’re lucky, we’re going to be given one last chance by the public.

Most people in the party want to come together and recognise that we have to be unified, not for just the sake of the party, but for the sake of the country - to provide a cohesive government that is working in the interests of the public.

Journalists outside Downing Street this morning.
Journalists outside Downing Street this morning. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

Sunak ally says fiscal plan still scheduled for Monday 31 October - but admits delay not ruled out

Atkins says that next Monday, 31 October, is “still in the diary” as the date for the publication of the medium-term fiscal plan – in effect, the next mini-budget. She says Rishi Sunak “will do everything he can to make that happen”. But she stresses that that is not a promise.

The Treasury has been working on the basis that the plan will get published then. Kwasi Kwarteng set the date when he was chancellor (having originally scheduled the fiscal plan for late November) and because the plan will explain how the government intends to get borrowing under control over the medium term, it is seen as a vital measure that could reassure the financial markets and end the turmoil triggered by the September mini-budget.

But it is likely to involve painful spending cuts and tax rises, and it could be the most important fiscal announcement of Sunak’s premiership. It would not be surprising if he wants to spend a few more days finalising it.

Victoria Atkins is now being interviewed on the Today programme.

Mishal Husain, the presenter, asks about Rishi Sunak’s 86-second speech yesterday. She suggests we should have heard more from him.

Atkins says that Sunak is not yet prime minister, and that it would have been wrong for him to speak yesterday as if he were.

In her interview with Sky News Victoria Atkins, the Rishi Sunak ally and former minister (but probably not for long – a job in the reshuffle seems a near certainty) said the Conservative party had a “real chance of uniting” under the new PM. Asked if she could reassure people the party would not be choosing a new leader again in the next few months, she replied:

Yes, because having the seen the reception that Rishi got yesterday in the 1922 Committee meeting ... the reception Rishi got from across the party was so inspiring to see and also so comforting. We have a real chance here of uniting.

Atkins also said that Liz Truss had stepped away from the 2019 manifesto” and that Sunak would be different. She said:

Rishi said we will stick to the 2019 manifesto. It’s as simple as that.

That is not strictly accurate or fair. While Truss did say she wanted to change the economic approach adopted by the Tories under Boris Johnson, which she claimed had held back growth, about the only economic policy she implemented that seems likely to survive was the reversal of the national insurance increase. In doing this, she was honouring the 2019 Tory manifesto, which said national insurance would not go up. It was Johnson and Sunak who abandoned that pledge when they introduced the health and social care levy to raise money for social care.

Sunak will be 'reassuring' for nation, says ally Victoria Atkins

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Helen Sullivan.

Rishi Sunak has been prime minister designate now for almost 18 hours, but all we’ve heard from him in public is an 86-second address that sounded wooden and cliched. Today he will deliver a proper speech to the nation, probably just before noon, in Downing Street, after he has had an audience with the King. Sometimes these speeches can frame a premiership (although not always positively – Margaret Thatcher quoting Saint Francis of Assisi, and Theresa May talking about tackling “burning injustices” both set benchmarks by which they failed). It will be a key moment.

But politicians are better defined by what they do, rather than what they say, and this afternoon Sunak will start appointing the cabinet and government that could run the country for another two years. This will tell us quite a lot about his values, and his priorities.

We have not heard from Sunak, but Victoria Atkins, the former minister and one of his supporters, has been giving interviews this morning. She told Sky News that he would be “reassuring”.

Referring to his record as chancellor during the pandemic, she said:

We will see more of Rishi in that mode ... reassuring us. I’m not asking you to imagine that he’s good at this - we know he’s good at this.

Because we’ve seen it as we were all huddled around our televisions during lockdown and were reassured by Rishi saying, ‘this is what I’m going to do for you, we’re going to put our arms around you’, and so I’m very, very confident that we will see more of Rishi in that mode, if you like, reassuring us, stabilising the markets.

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. My esteemed colleague Andrew Sparrow, who by noon today will have blogged no fewer than six British prime ministers, will take you through the news for the next few hours.

If you’d like to know more about who Rishi Sunak is, here is an explainer:

The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, has said the Conservatives “don’t trust the British people”.

Speaking to BBC’s Today programme, he said people were “furious” about not being given a chance to have their say and that his party would work with “any MP” to push for an election.

Davey said he anticipated spending cuts and measures that would fail to look after the poorest in society from Rishi Sunak’s government.

He said: “We think we need a general election now, we believe that, but it’s increasingly clear the Conservatives don’t trust the British people.

“They are not going to give people a say and, let me tell you, people are furious about that.

“We’re happy to work with any MP who’s willing to give the people a chance to have their say.”

He added: “I think (Sunak) is going to deliver public spending cuts. I’m not convinced he’s going to look after the less well-off in society.”

Updated

The barrister Hashi Mohamed has written for the Guardian about what Sunak’s victory means for progressive politics.

Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on becoming the first Asian prime minister of the UK. It’s a momentous day for a number of reasons, not least because the Conservative leadership race was a shining example of that old immigrant adage: you have to work twice as hard to achieve your goals.

On his second opportunity to become the leader of the Conservative party, all it took for Sunak to win was Liz Truss tanking the economy, global markets in turmoil and the threat of Boris Johnson returning as leader. The race showed that not only did Sunak have to work much harder than his predecessors for his appointment, but it was already obvious to the whole country in the previous leadership election that he was the only sensible candidate.

Alas, for Tory party members it was still preferable to elect a white woman than a brown man; just as well they won’t be able to vote on his appointment this time.

But rising above these political machinations, what does this moment really tell us about race relations in Britain?

For people like us, Sunak’s ascension is tinged with bitterness – for many, his hardline views aren’t exactly representative of who we imagined would be the first British leader with immigrant parents.

Updated

More now on who Britain’s new (unelected) PM is.

Sunak has gone from MP to prime minister in just seven years – faster than any other PM in the modern era. David Cameron achieved the same in nine years, but again, Pitt the Younger holds the overall record with just two years.

The path to the top wasn’t all smooth. After losing to Liz Truss in a vote of Tory members on 5 September, he was expected to disappear from politics – and quickly did, last speaking in the Commons the day after Truss became PM. But when Truss’s disastrous and unfunded tax cuts brought her down in flames, Sunak was ready with the backing of supporters he had gathered over the summer campaign.

After winning the leadership, Sunak, whose career has been defined by fiscal conservatism, told MPs his ambition was to have a “highly productive UK economy” and that he backed low taxation but that it had to be affordable and deliverable.

Labour says general election 'looks less likely'

Pat McFadden, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, has acknowledged the prospect of a general election “looks less likely”.

The party has been calling for the question to be put back to the country as the Tories have changed their leader twice since they won a mandate to lead in 2019.

But McFadden says Rishi Sunak, who will be appointed prime minister on Tuesday, appears to have “ruled it out”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “Given the parliamentary arithmetic – the Conservative party has got a big majority – the only way a general election can happen, really, is if they agree to hold one. So, that looks less likely today.”

He said such a vote would be preferable to “a game of musical chairs at the top of the Conservative party”.

Updated

Who is Rishi Sunak?

The man who will on Tuesday become the UK’s 57th prime minister is richer than the King and, at 42, younger than every predecessor except William Pitt the Younger.

Sunak will also be the UK’s first ever person of colour to lead the country, and first Hindu prime minister.

On Saturday, this newspaper asked if he was too rich to become PM. On Monday, 195 Conservative MPs answered. So how did he get here?

Youth
Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980 to Indian parents who had moved to the UK from east Africa. His father was a GP and his mother ran her own pharmacy. The eldest of three children, Sunak was educated at a private boarding school, Winchester College, which costs £43,335 a year to attend. He was head boy, and has in recent years made donations of over £100,000 to the school.

Sunak went on to study politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford, like so, so, so many before him. He was awarded a first-class degree. He later gained a masters of business administration (MBA) at Stanford University, where he met Akshata Murty, his future wife, but where few others remember him.

Family
Murty, 42, is the daughter of the Indian billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, often described as the Bill Gates of India, who founded the software company Infosys. According to reports, his daughter has a 0.91% stake in the company, worth about £700m.

The couple married in her home town of Bengaluru in a two-day ceremony in 2009 attended by 1,000 guests. They have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka. In April this year, it emerged that Murty was a non-domiciled UK resident, meaning she avoided UK taxes on her international earnings in return for paying an annual charge of £30,000.

Without that non-dom status she could have been liable for more than £20m of UK taxes on these windfalls, it was reported. After a public outcry, her spokesperson announced she would start paying UK taxes on her overseas earnings to relieve political pressure on her husband.

Still, Sunak and Murty’s combined fortune is estimated to be £730m, double the estimated £300m-£350m wealth of King Charles III and Camilla, queen consort. They own four properties spread across the world and valued at more than £15m.

Updated

Let’s take a moment to appreciate The Star’s front page:

Agenda for day

If you’re just joining us, I’m Helen Sullivan and I’ll be taking you through the latest for the next few hours. You can find me on Twitter here if you need to.

This is the expected schedule for today’s events:

9am: Liz Truss will chair her final Cabinet.

10.15am: Truss will make a statement outside No 10 Downing Street. Then she will go to Buckingham Palace to offer her resignation to the King. The king will then meet new Conservative leader Rishi Sunak and invite him to form a government.

11.35am: Sunak will make a statement in Downing Street before entering as prime minister. Inside, civil service staff will guide a new team of political appointees through what is known as “onboarding”, involving everything from computer log-ins to security passes. Sunak will also put the finishing touches on his cabinet.

Updated

How world leaders are reacting to Sunak's 'coronation'

News that Rishi Sunak will take office as Britain’s next prime minister – the third in less than two months – raised cheers in New Delhi, calls for stability from Europe and praise as a “groundbreaking milestone” from the US.

World leaders lauded the significance of Sunak’s victory as the UK’s first prime minister of colour and the youngest in modern political history.

“We’ve got news that Rishi Sunak is now the prime minister,” Joe Biden said in remarks made during a Diwali celebration at the White House on Monday.

“He’s expected to become the prime minister I think tomorrow when he goes to see the King. It’s pretty astounding, a groundbreaking milestone and it matters,” the US president added.

News that a Hindu son of Indian immigrants had won the leadership race raised cheers in India, where some found pride in the fact that a person of Indian heritage would be running a country it was once colonised by.

A strap across the bottom of the screen on New Delhi Television ran the words: “Indian son rises over the empire,” while the Times of India ran a headline that read “UK rings in Rishi raj on Diwali”:

Updated

The BBC’s political correspondent, Nick Eardley, has just summed things up on BBC Radio 4 like this: “Liz Truss faced one of the most daunting entries of modern times, Mr Sunak faces an even more daunting one – plus he has to pick a cabinet that will unite the party.”

Updated

When he becomes PM, Rishi Sunak will be doing many things for the first time in modern politics – he will be the first PM of colour, the first Hindu, the youngest since William Pitt the Younger.

But he will be one of many, many, many in the British ruling class who have one thing in common: a PPE from Oxford.

This piece on the degree that runs Britain, by my colleague Andy Beckett, is worth a revisit:

“Monday, 13 April 2015 was a typical day in modern British politics. An Oxford University graduate in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE), Ed Miliband, launched the Labour party’s general election manifesto. It was examined by the BBC’s political editor, Oxford PPE graduate Nick Robinson, by the BBC’s economics editor, Oxford PPE graduate Robert Peston, and by the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Oxford PPE graduate Paul Johnson. It was criticised by the prime minister, Oxford PPE graduate David Cameron. It was defended by the Labour shadow chancellor, Oxford PPE graduate Ed Balls.”

Updated

The front pages

Rishi Sunak’s victory in the Tory leadership contest and his imminent accession to the top of British politics leads the front page of every major newspaper in the UK on Tuesday.

Our headline is “Unite or die – Sunak’s warning to Tory MPs”. Under a picture of Sunak receiving a heroes welcome at the Conservative head office in London, the paper’s deputy political editor reports that he told MPs he would “put an end to the Conservative psychodrama” and “prioritise ‘policies not personalities’”.

The story also notes that “he will become the third Conservative prime minister in under two months and the fifth in six years”.

“He will also make history as the first Hindu to lead the country”.

The Financial Times focuses on the economic challenges that lie ahead for the new prime minister and says that the “markets look forward to ‘dullness dividend’ in the wake of Truss turbulence”.

The paper quotes Tory MPs as saying they hope Sunak “will reassure markets and help hold down borrowing costs”.

Under the banner “Our new (unelected) PM” the Mirror asks “Who voted for you?”

Its main story says “twice as rich as the King, Mr Sunak will now preside over brutal public spending cuts” and carries a quote from Labour’s Angela Rayner who says “we need an election now.”

The Sun strikes a more ebullient note with, “The force is with you, Rishi”. The main image shows Sunak holding a lightsaber.

“Tory MPs turned to Star Wars nut Rishi Sunak as their ‘new hope’”, its political editor writes, but adds that his victory came, “without a single vote being cast”.

Here is a roundup of all the front pages:

Updated

When Conservative MPs are asked privately if the party will pull itself out of a seemingly never-ending spiral of disunity now Rishi Sunak is at the helm, rather than reply with the affirmative, most instead say that “it can” or “it has to”.

The new prime minister will expect to get a reprieve from colleagues’ acidic briefings as those who tried everything to keep him out of Downing Street slink away to lick their wounds and the more moderate doubters magnanimously fall into line.

But the honeymoon period is likely to be short-lived, with Sunak facing many of the same problems his predecessor, Liz Truss, did, including dire economic forecasts and plunging poll ratings.

With nearly 200 public endorsements from MPs, Sunak was the clear favourite among the parliamentary party. However, he was still viewed with scepticism by those who were trying to turn the coronation into a contest between him and Penny Mordaunt or Boris Johnson.

So riven were those on the government’s green benches that one admitted on Monday: “My head is with Rishi, my heart is with Penny and my soul is with Boris.”

Will Rishi Sunak find the fractured Tory party is ungovernable?

Rishi Sunak’s father in law, Indian billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy, the founder of software giant Infosys, says Sunak will do his best for Britain when he takes over as prime minister on Tuesday.

The 42-year-old, a practising Hindu who traces his roots to India, will be Britain’s first prime minister of colour and its youngest leader in modern times.

“Congratulations to Rishi,” Murthy, who is valued by Forbes at $4.5bn, said in a statement published by Reuters partner ANI.

“We are confident he will do his best for the people of the United Kingdom.”

Nearly 30% of all Britain’s postwar prime ministers will have been in office in the past six years, all from the same party. But the cause of this chronic political instability is not just Tory psychodrama: it’s an economic model that has failed to deliver rising living standards.

Even before the surge in inflation and Truss’s move to crash the British economy with a series of lethal rightwing policies, wages were set to be lower in 2026 than back in 2008. There was once talk of the financial crash and the subsequent Tory austerity triggering a lost decade in people’s living standards, but the reality we now face is a lost generation. Too often, political reporting reduces British politics to soap opera, to personality-driven machinations: to do so strips away the much more profound drivers of political turmoil.

What, then, does the ascent of Rishi Sunak mean for all this? That he has been widely painted as a relative Tory moderate is a political travesty: Sunak is easily to the right of Johnson on economic policy. The anonymous briefing of one senior Sunak ally underlined why so many Tory MPs were uneasy with Johnson, and it wasn’t because of his addiction to deceit: “There is no evidence that during his time as prime minister he grasped the need for restraint in spending or had any understanding of how the public finances worked.” Johnson, they believed, was opposed to a renewed bout of austerity and lacked a true-blue ideological commitment to rolling back the frontiers of the state. Sunak, on the other hand, will gleefully wield the scalpel, from real-terms pay cuts for the key workers who were hypocritically applauded by Tory ministers in the pandemic, to the core services that a healthy society depends on to function. Sunak must believe that he will escape the same fate as his four predecessors – three of whom were more experienced than him – even as he is likely to oversee a more dramatic plunge in living standards than any of them.

Sunak is likely to be the fifth and final Tory prime minister of this era whose career will end in humiliating failure, in his case an electoral rout at the hands of the Labour party will probably be his final chapter:

What next for Penny Mordaunt?

Sunak will need a woman in one of the four great offices of state and the most obvious choice would be to make Penny Mordaunt foreign secretary. Having come third in the last leadership contest, she was tipped as a possible foreign secretary but had to settle for Commons leader.

Mordaunt is likely to push for a much more senior role in Sunak’s team, though some of his backers have been irritated by her refusal to pull out of the contest sooner.

Although she twice deviated from government policy under Truss (on cutting corporation tax and raising benefits in line with inflation), she is seen as a skilled communicator who carries a strong sway with parts of the parliamentary party and certainly many Tory members.

Sunak's likely cabinet picks

Rishi Sunak has pledged to build a cabinet of all the talents but, given the swiftness of the leadership competition, relatively little has been briefed about his potential cabinet.

His team say no roles have been promised to any backers and Sunak was in the enviable position as the frontrunner of not needing to promise roles to anyone.

But he will have been buoyed up by the backing of MPs from the right and left of the party, which will help him build a “unity cabinet”.

Here is where some of the main characters are likely to end up, according to our political journalists Jessica Elgot, Rowena Mason, Peter Walker and Aubrey Allegretti:

What next for Liz Truss?

While Liz Truss’s official spokesperson insisted she was still “working from Downing Street” on Monday, in reality she has just one more real task left from what will be precisely 50 days as prime minister: departing from the role.

Truss’s aides refuse to say what she might do next, and it is likely she does not know herself. Aged just 47 and a former accountant, she could certainly make a living outside politics, even if not on the level of Johnson or even of Theresa May, who combines being a backbencher with earning £100,000-plus a time giving speeches to US corporations.

It seems most likely Truss will remain in parliament. There she will face what will perhaps be her most difficult task: carving out a role as a grandee, a former occupant of No 10, but one who was only there for seven weeks, almost all of which was defined by chaos and disaster. It is an unprecedented challenge, for an unprecedented prime-ministership.

Early morning summary

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the appointment of the UK’s third prime minister in as many months, Rishi Sunak. Long may he be blogged.

My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be taking you through the latest for the next few hours. You can find me on Twitter here if you have questions, queries, thoughts, prayers.

Outgoing PM Liz Truss is expected to hold her final cabinet meeting this morning, on her 50th day on the job, before making a departing statement at Downing Street at 10.15am, then heading to Buckingham Palace to tender her resignation to King Charles.

Sunak will then meet with the King before addressing the nation from Downing Street at noon as the country’s first prime minister of colour and first Hindu prime minister. His huge margin of support from both the right and left of the party will mean he has a free hand in choosing his cabinet.

Here are the latest developments in the UK leadership news:

  • Rishi Sunak 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 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.

  • Sunak has said he will look to build a cabinet of “all the talents” that will see the political return of the “adults”, according to reports.

  • Mordaunt, who bowed out of the race after failing to get 100 nominations from Tory MPs, is expected to get a promotion – with some speculating that she could replace James Cleverly as foreign secretary.

  • Sunak ruled out an early general election demanded by opposition parties as the Tories move onto their third prime minister since Boris Johnson won in 2019.

  • Sunak told Conservative MPs behind closed doors in the House of Commons they face an “existential moment”. Three MPs in the room said his message to the party was they must “unite or die”, as they focus on delivering on the public’s priorities during a cost-of-living crisis.

Updated

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