Reishi Sunak will be Britain’s next prime minister after Penny Mordant dropped out of the Tory leadership race in the last minutes before nominations closed.When he arrived to address Tory MPs after the results came in, he was greeted with thunderous applause and banging on tables.Sunak will replace Liz Truss seven weeks after defeating her in the previous Tory contest.The former chancellor won the support of more than half of Tory MPs, with Mordant struggling to reach the threshold of 100 MPs to take part in the ballot.He will become Britain’s first British Asian Prime Minister and, at the age of 42, the youngest Prime Minister in more than a century.Labor has reiterated its call for a general election, as have the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats.
King Charles is due to fly back to London from his estate Sandringham in Norfolk this afternoon.According to palace sources, this is not a change of plan in response to today’s news about the next occupant of 10 Downing Street, but a pre-existing arrangement.No timetable has yet been announced, but there will be an audience between King Charles and new Prime Minister Rishi Shankar, as well as outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss.The meetings will take place in the traditional setting of Buckingham Palace, rather than Balmoral, where Liz Truss traveled to meet the late Queen last month.
