RISHI'S VOW
Rishi Sunak says UK faces ‘profound challenges’ but he’ll work ‘day in day out’ in first address after winning PM race
RISHI Sunak has vowed to work "day in day out" to tackle the UK's "profound challenges" after he was today named Britain's 57th Prime Minister.
Mr Sunak won the support of an overwhelming majority of Conservative MPs, enabling him to claim the keys to No10.
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On the day of Diwali - the Hindu festival of lights - Mr Sunak learnt he will become Britain's first PM of Indian heritage.
Addressing Tory MPs in parliament after his historic victory, the new Tory leader said: "We must unite or die, and deliver for our country."
And in a statement to the public, delivered from Conservative Party HQ, Mr Sunak said: "The United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge.
"We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together. Because that is the only way we will overcome the challenges we face and build a better, more prosperous future for our children and our grandchildren."
He added: "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."
Ms Mordaunt dropped out of the contest at the last minute this afternoon after she failed to secure the support of 100 colleagues.
The ex-Chancellor took an early lead in the Tory leadership race, having lost the last one to Liz Truss just weeks ago.
Within hours of Ms Truss announcing her resignation last Thursday, MPs came out in droves to support Mr Sunak.
But his chances of moving to Downing Street were dramatically hampered when Boris Johnson informally launched a spectacular come back bid.
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The ex-PM left his glamorous holiday in the Dominican Republic to fly back to London and shore up support.
Tory heavyweights split between two camps, with James Cleverly and Priti Patel going team Boris, and Grant Shapps and Kemi Badenoch waving the flag for Rishi.
Over the weekend Ms Mordaunt trailed behind the pair, with only around two dozen MPs backing her campaign.
On Saturday Mr Sunak and Boris met for late night peace talks.
But the discussion flopped after neither candidate agreed to step aside.
Just 24 hours later on Sunday night Mr Johnson made an exit from the race.
The former Prime Minster insisted he had the numbers to go to a vote of the Conservative membership.
But he threw in the towel as MPs broke for Mr Sunak at a rate of more than two to one.
In a statement the ex-PM said: "I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 - and tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow.
"But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can't govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament."
BoJo was praised by some from his party for taking the back seat in the name of Tory unity.
Ms Mordaunt carried on campaigning into Monday and in the morning her team claimed she'd almost reached the 100 threshold.
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But minutes before 1922 backbench committee chair Sir Graham Brady was due to read the results, the Commons Leader stepped down.
In a statement she said: "Our Party is our membership. Whether we are elected representatives, activists, fundraisers or supporters. We all have a stake in who our leader is.
"These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today. They have taken this decision in good faith and for the good of the country.
"We all owe it to the country, to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation."
This afternoon Mr Sunak addressed MPs at a private meeting of the 1922 Committee, where he received three standing ovations.
The PM-to-be appealed for unity as he addressed colleagues and pledged every wing of the party will be in his new cabinet.
He also ruled out calling an early general election.
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But Mr Sunak's main message to his divided party was: "we must unite or die and deliver for our country".
Responding to Mr Sunak's coronation, outgoing PM Ms Truss said: "Congratulations on being appointed as Leader of the Conservative Party and our next Prime Minister. You have my full support."
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