Who is Rishi Sunak? UK's Next Prime Minister | Everything You Need to Know | Newsround

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Rishi Sunak will be the UK's next prime minister. The former chancellor will be the UK's first British Asian PM and also the youngest for more than 200 years.

In his first public address since the announcement, he paid tribute to Liz Truss for her "dignified" leadership "under difficult circumstances abroad and at home".

He added that he is "humbled and honoured" to have the support of his fellow MPs and be elected leader, calling it "the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party I love and give back to the country I owe so much to".

More than half of Conservative MPs publicly backed Mr Sunak ahead of leadership nominations closing on Monday afternoon.

And when remaining rival Penny Mordaunt withdrew after failing to reach the 100 votes she needed to stand, it meant he was the only person left in the race to be Tory leader and prime minister.

He will take over from Liz Truss, who announced her resignation last week. He is expected to start his new job on Tuesday after formally meeting King Charles III.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson dropped out of the contest on Sunday evening after saying it was not the "right time" for him to try to make a comeback as leader.

This win means he becomes the new Tory party leader on Diwali - the Hindu festival of lights - as well as the first UK prime minister from an Indian background.

What has the reaction been to the result? Outgoing prime minister Liz Truss congratulated Rishi Sunak and said he has her full support.

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross said the party's new leader is "uniquely well equipped for the task".

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey says the Tories are installing "another out-of-touch prime minister", while Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner has complained that he has become prime minister without him "saying a word" about what he plans to do in No 10.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: "The Tories cannot be allowed to impose a third prime minister without a general election, voters must get a say and the SNP is determined to ensure they do."

But the Conservatives say this would be even worse for the country, and the best thing for the UK now is stability.

He took the role of chancellor not long before the coronavirus pandemic broke out and during that time he made lots of big decisions about how the UK should spend its money.

Some of the measures he introduced were popular with the public, for example the furlough scheme which gave money to support people who weren't able to work due to businesses closing.

He also gave money to support businesses, and introduced schemes like the 'Eat Out to Help Out' which was aimed to increase how much people were spending and help get the economy get going again after lockdown came to an end.

But the scheme was later linked to a spike in infections, while others think he spent too much money during his time as chancellor which could cause more problems for the UK economy in the long term.

What other jobs has he had? He has always had a background in money and finance and from 2001 to 2004, Mr Sunak was an analyst for a big finance company called Goldman Sachs.

In 2015, he made his move into politics, becoming the Conservative MP for Richmond in Yorkshire.

It didn't take him long to start taking on more roles in the government, starting as a junior minister in Theresa May's government before being made chief secretary to the Treasury by Boris Johnson.

He was promoted to chancellor in February 2020 and was a vocal supporter of Mr Johnson at first.

But he eventually resigned from the job in July 2022, a move that contributed to Mr Johnson having to step down from his job as Tory leader and prime minister.

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