In another move aimed at continuity, James Cleverly will stay in his post as Foreign Secretary despite not being a Sunak loyalist.
Newly-appointed British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that he has been elected to fix some of the "mistakes" made by his predecessor as he promised to place "economic stability and confidence" at the heart of his government's agenda.
Accompanied by her husband Hugh O'Leary and two daughters, Britain's shortest-serving Prime Minister ended her tenure by trying to strike an optimistic tone as she said that brighter days lie ahead.
Rishi Sunak on Tuesday scripted history when he was appointed by King Charles III as Britain's first Indian-origin prime minister after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party on Diwali.
Outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss will chair her final Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning before she makes her way to Buckingham Palace to formally tender her resignation to the 73-year-old monarch.
Indian-origin Rishi Sunak, who will take over as Britain's prime minister from Liz Truss, on Monday promised 'stability and unity' as his priority.
Rishi Sunak on Monday is all set to make history on Diwali as Britain's first Indian-origin prime minister after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party, following Penny Mordaunt's withdrawal from the race.
Rishi Sunak, who is set to be Britain's first Indian-origin prime minister, recently said that he wants to change the United Kingdom-India relationship to make it a more two-way exchange that opens up easy access to UK students and companies in India.
Sunil Bhaskaran, AirAsia India's chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), is the front-runner to head the low-cost carrier that will take birth after the merger of Air India Express and AirAsia India, sources said. In a show of confidence, the airline's board extended Bhaskaran's tenure by three years -- until March 2025 -- in a meeting held earlier this year, according to the documents reviewed by Business Standard. Moreover, AirAsia India's board of directors has increased Bhaskaran's salary twice in 2022 -- first in January by 5 per cent and then in June by 7 per cent, the documents showed.
With the former prime minister stepping aside on Sunday night saying it was "simply not the right time" for his comeback, the prospect of a Diwali victory for Sunak cannot be ruled out.
Her intervention comes just days after her dramatic exit from Cabinet over a breach of the ministerial code and a scathing attack on Truss' leadership.
While Sunak has maintained a dignified silence over the recent crisis, his supporters have not lost any opportunity to point out how the former finance minister had got the economic forecasts right.
In an accompanying vision statement, the former finance minister highlighted his track record of serving in the Cabinet, helping to steer the economy through the toughest of times with the COVID pandemic.
The 42-year-old frontrunner's tally continues to grow as former prime minister Boris Johnson flies back from his Caribbean holiday to reportedly also join the contest.
The 42-year-old is holding a solid 55 per cent lead with the Oddschecker betting odds aggregator, followed by a 29 per cent chance of former prime minister Boris Johnson making a comeback. Third placed in what is emerging as a three-way contest is Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, who had polled third in the first round of parliamentary votes to shortlist candidates for the last leadership race.
"I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected," she said speaking outside Downing Street.
Britain's third female prime Minister, Liz Truss, was out of office on Thursday after the shortest tenure at 10 Downing Street in London and without a cherished India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) under her belt as a Brexit prize.
"I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign," the 42-year-old barrister said.
The free trade agreement (FTA) talks with India are no longer working towards a Diwali deadline though negotiations are progressing well, UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has said as New Delhi expressed confidence on Friday of an "early date" for a mutually beneficial deal. "There are ongoing negotiations as we know on the FTA. There is interest on both sides to see if we can work towards a deal, an FTA, that is beneficial to both the countries at an early date," external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters in New Delhi. It came as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his UK counterpart, James Cleverly, and referenced the Roadmap 2030 bilateral agreement signed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former UK PM Boris Johnson in May last year, with no specific reference to the FTA.
The poll found that among those who voted for the Conservatives at the last election, 62 per cent said that party members had made the wrong choice when the race was shortlisted between Truss and Sunak.
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