• Rishi Sunak formally became the third prime minister of Britain in seven weeks on Tuesday.
• He acknowledged “mistakes were made” by his predecessor.
• He promised to stabilize the country after months of political and economic unrest.

Rishi Sunak formally became the third prime minister of Britain in seven weeks on Tuesday. He acknowledged “mistakes were made” by his predecessor and promised to stabilize the country after months of political and economic unrest.

He was chosen by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in London not long after Liz Truss presented the monarch with her letter of resignation following a disastrous 50-day term that rocked Britain’s economy to its foundation.

After winning a hastened Conservative Party leadership election on Monday, Sunak becomes the first person of color and the first Hindu to govern Britain. He is also the youngest incumbent in more than 200 years at age 42.

Sunak returned to Downing Street after receiving the King’s invitation to form a government, where he delivered a speech meant to allay some of the public’s worries and set out some of the specifics of his administration.

Sunak acknowledged the “deep economic situation” the country was in during his first speech as the next prime minister of Britain before paying tribute to Truss.

“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,” he said. “And I have been elected as leader of my party, and your prime minister in part, to fix them. And that work begins immediately.”

“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,” he said.

“The government that 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.”

Also Read

Next UK PM Rishi Sunak to be wealthier than King Charles III

The inhabitants of 10 Downing Street will be wealthier than the monarch...

Sunak added: “I will work day in and day out to deliver for you. This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”

Advertisement

Tuesday morning, Truss gave her final statement at the Downing Street podium before driving quickly to Buckingham Palace.

Truss appeared confident and smiling despite a dismal term that saw her become Britain’s shortest serving prime minister in history as she called her time in government a “great honor” and subsequently added that “brighter days lay ahead.”

“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,” Truss said on the economy. “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.”

Truss concluded by wishing Sunak “every success for the good of our country.”

Also Read

Rishi Sunak first public remarks after becomes PM

At Tory HQ, Rishi Sunak is about to deliver a speech to...