New Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak tells MPs ‘we have one chance … unite or die’

Rishi Sunak says he his humbled to be Britain’s incoming prime minister as he prepares nation to face ‘profound economic challenge’.

New Conservative Party leader and incoming prime minister Rishi Sunak waves as he leaves the Conservative Party Headquarters earlier today. Picture: Getty Images

Rishi Sunak – confirmed as Britain’s third prime minister in two months and the youngest in more than two centuries after meeting King Charles on Tuesday night – has warned Conservative MPs “we have one chance. It is unite or die.”

Mr Sunak told a gathering of more than 350 Tory MPs that he was committed to reducing taxes, but only when it was affordable. He also vowed there would be no early general election, despite the demands of all opposition parties.

Shortly after being elected Tory leader, Mr Sunak said he was humbled and honoured, but stressed “there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge”.

He gave a 84-second address outside Conservative Party headquarters in London in which he called on the Tories, riven by deep factions, to develop “stability and unity”, saying it will be his utmost priority to bring the party and the country together.

In a stilted delivery, Mr Sunak said: “I pledge that I will serve you with integrity and humility, and I will work day in, day out, to deliver for the British people.”

He began his speech by thanking Liz Truss for serving as prime minister with grace under exceptionally difficult circumstances.

Ms Truss – who announced her resignation last Thursday after 44 days as prime minister – held a final cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, London time, before Mr Sunak was ­appointed by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

Mr Sunak at 42, is the country’s youngest prime minister since the Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution, and is the first practising Hindu to hold the office. He is also one of the richest, with the family fortune valued at more than $1.2bn

He was born in Southampton on the south coast of England, the first child of doctor Yashvir and pharmacist Usha, both of Punjabi Indian descent and who had immigrated to Britain from Kenya and Tanzania. Mr Sunak’s victory came in the midst of Diwali, an ­important festival for India.

Mr Sunak is of a similar age to Tony Blair and David Cameron, who were both 43 when they were elected prime minister. But Mr Sunak holds the distinction of being the youngest prime minister since William Pitt the Younger, who took office in 1783 aged just 24 and who went on to be considered one of Britain’s greatest leaders.

Mr Sunak has previously thanked his parents for their contribution to community life – he used to help his mother do her ­accounts for the pharmacy – and their hard work to send him to one of Britain’s most elite private schools, Winchester, where he was head boy.

Mr Sunak then followed a very establishment path: Lincoln College, Oxford: Stanford; investment banking with Goldman Sachs; and then creating his own hedge fund.

Mr Sunak’s met his wife ­Akshata Murty while studying for an MBA at Stanford University, and they married in 2009 in a two-day wedding in India in front of 1000 guests.

Ms Murty is one of the wealth­iest women in Britain and is the daughter of the founder of Indian tech company Infosys. The Sunaks have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.

Mr Sunak beat off a challenge from the Leader of the Commons Penny Mourdant, when she failed to reach the required support of 100 MP backers by the Conservative Party deadline of 2pm on Monday (midnight AEDT).

Even though Mr Sunak had lost to Ms Truss in a Tory leadership election that ended last month, he had stormed well ahead over the weekend, eventually ­securing the backing of about 200 MPs. His main challenger, former prime minister Boris Johnson, ruled himself out on Sunday night, saying that he couldn’t bring the Tory party together.

Ms Mourdant waited until just minutes before the Monday deadline to acknowledge she couldn’t get the required 100 MPs and withdrew from the contest, allowing Mr Sunak to be elected without a Tory party grassroots ballot.

Mr Sunak’s elevation to the top job seven years after entering parliament as MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire comes as at a crucial time for the country, battling an astonishing cost-of-living crisis and helping Ukraine following the invasion by Russia.

It is unclear if Mr Sunak, a former chancellor of the exchequer, will proceed with a scheduled mini-budget on October 31, but is anticipated to soon announce ­unpopular major tax rises and spending cuts to try to balance the books.

He has been critical of the Australian-UK free-trade deal for not giving enough support to British farmers, but is unlikely to intervene as the deal is midway through parliamentary ratification. He is a big fan of cricket and will be a keen observer of next year’s Ashes series in England.

As Mr Johnson chancellor’s, Mr Sunak oversaw the biggest tax rises in 70 years, with a 6 per cent increase of corporation tax, foreshadowed a green levy and then introduce a generous furlough scheme during lockdown that was open to everyone except the self-employed. Billions of pounds were lost to fraud, fuelling questions about his judgment.

But Mr Sunak successfully pitched his candidature to fellow MPs, including to the right of the party, citing his background in economics and hedge fund ­experience. Even so there are still major divisions within the Tory party and Mr Sunak will have to work hard in his cabinet appointments to try to bring the different factions together. His leadership will be tested from day one. Even with a working majority of 71 in the House of Commons, several dozen rebels could cross the floor and block legislation.

The 200,000 grassroots Tory party members, who had preferred Mr Johnson, didn’t end up with a say in the leadership race because Ms Mourdant didn’t get the numbers to be able to stand alongside Mr Sunak in a poll.

Ms Truss’s resignation to King Charles came just seven weeks after she met Queen Elizabeth II, in the monarch’s last official duty two days before her death at the age 96 on September 8.

Mr Sunak, who went into the summer’s run-off as the pick of Tory MPs, lost the grassroots ­ballot to Ms Truss. His resignation as chancellor triggered the cabinet revolt that forced Mr Johnson’s downfall in July.

More than a week ago before Ms Truss resigned there was a flurry of WhatsApp messages ­between Tories including one foreshadowing Mr Sunak as prime minister, Jeremy Hunt as chancellor and Ms Mourdant as foreign secretary. “And it is a done deal,” it said.

Mr Sunak was expected to name his cabinet overnight.

All the while, Labour, which has a huge majority in the polls, will strike at Mr Sunak’s family wealth and try to position him as being out of touch with the British public. An election is due in two years. Deputy Labour leader ­Angela Rayner said Mr Sunak had “no mandate and no idea what working people need. We need a general election so the public get a say on the future of Britain – and the chance for a fresh start with Labour”.