Truss to hold final cabinet meeting before tendering resignation at Buckingham Palace; Sunak expected to speak at Downing Street before noon
Rishi Sunak tells Tories to ‘unite or die’ as he prepares to become PM
This is the expected order of events this morning:
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.
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.
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.