Britain’s King Charles III on Tuesday appointed new Conservative leader Rishi Sunak as the second prime minister of his reign, shortly after accepting the resignation of Liz Truss.
Photographs distributed by Buckingham Palace showed Charles shaking Sunak’s hand as he appointed him to become Britain’s first prime minister of colour.
Sunak on Tuesday vowed to fix the errors made by his predecessor Liz Truss while warning of “difficult” decisions ahead.
Speaking on the steps of Downing Street after being appointed premier by King Charles III, Sunak spoke of Truss’s “noble” aims but said some “mistakes” had been made.
“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,” he said.
He said however he wanted to “pay tribute” to Truss whose tenure as leader lasted just seven weeks.
Her tax-slashing budget sparked economic and political turmoil.
“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 born of ill will or bad intentions, but mistakes nonetheless,” he said.
“And I have been elected as leader of my party — your prime minister — in part to fix them, and that work begins immediately,” he added.
AFP