Rishi Sunak gets to work for his first day as PM after vowing to get grip on economy as speculation mounts over his team

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New leader of the Britain's Conservative Party Rishi Sunak gestures outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, in London, Britain October 24, 2022. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

RISHI Sunak will formally be appointed Britain’s 57th Prime Minister TODAY after he bagged the keys to No10 in the latest Tory leadership race.  

This morning Liz Truss will chair her last ever Cabinet meeting as PM, before bidding farewell to her team.

Rishi Sunak will make his debut speech as PM outside of Downing Street at 11am

Rishi Sunak will be the UK’s 57th Prime Minister after he won the Tory leadership race by a landslide

At around 10.15am she will deliver a departing speech outside Downing Street and will then visit King Charles to tender her resignation.

Next, Mr Sunak be invited by the King to form a new government.

At around 11am the new PM will deliver his debut address to the nation outside the famous No10 door.

From there it’s all guns blazing, as Mr Sunak faces the mammoth task of appointing a shiny new Cabinet.

The new PM will have to weigh up who to fire and who hire, knowing that all wings of the divided Tory party will want to see a member of their faction represented at the top table.

Confirmation of big Cabinet roles should begin in the afternoon but may run late into the evening.

Yesterday Mr Sunak vowed to his MPs: “We must unite or die, and deliver for our country.”

The new PM warned it was time for the Tory Party to get real or get wiped out as “this is an existential moment”.

With Britain facing a crippling cost of living crisis, inflation soaring at 10.1 per cent and a £40bn black hole in public finances, he pledged to do whatever it takes to get a grip on the economy.

The former Chancellor said: “We’ve got an economic crisis and a political crisis; the public will hold us accountable for it — unless we fix it now and we can.”

 He insisted: “We’ve got time before the next election, we’ve got the talent, the energy and the ideas but we get one shot and no second chances.”

Later, in his first address to the nation, Mr Sunak said it was the “greatest privilege of my life” to become PM and pledged to serve with “integrity and humility”.

He warned that the country faces “profound economic challenge” but said he was the man to deliver a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.

 He received a hero’s welcome from supporting MPs who greeted him at Conservative HQ in Westminster for his victory speech.

Yet viewers were left baffled after Mr Sunak spoke for just 86 seconds before awkwardly shuffling off the stage.

At just 42 he will be the youngest PM for 200 years and the first British-Asian to hold the top job.

Mr Sunak will also be the UK’s first Hindu leader, with his victory coming on religious festival Diwali.

The former Chancellor’s path to No10 was cleared yesterday after remaining rival Penny Mordaunt failed to get the 100 backers needed to take the latest leadership contest to the party members.

After a morning hammering the phones to court undecided MPs, she withdrew minutes before the 2pm deadline, declaring that “Rishi has my full support”.