After meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, Rishi Sunak was sworn in as Britain’s fifth prime minister in the past six years.

Sunak is the first person of colour, the first British-Asian, and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom.

He takes office in Downing Street at a critical juncture for his party and the nation after Liz Truss’ disastrous 50-day term further destabilised the economy of Britain.

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In his first speech as Prime Minister of the UK, Sunak informs the public that Liz Truss made “mistakes” that he has been chosen to correct.

Sunak declared in front of Downing Street, “It is only right to explain why I’m standing here as your new Prime Minister. Right now, our country is facing a profound economic crisis. The aftermath of Covid still lingers. Putin’s war in Ukraine has destabilized energy markets and supply chains the world over.”

“I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Liz Truss. She was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country. It is a noble aim and I admired her restlessness to create change. But some mistakes were made,” Sunak added.

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He further clarified, “Not borne of ill will or bad intentions, quite the opposite in fact. But mistakes nonetheless.”

The choice to lead the Conservatives, he noted, was made “in part to fix them, and that work begins immediately.”

As Prime Minister, Sunak has claimed that he will have to make “difficult decisions” because of the nation’s economic circumstances.

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“I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. This will mean difficult decisions to come. But you saw me during Covid doing everything I could to protect people and bossiness with schemes like furlough,” he added.

“There are always limits. More so now than ever. But I promise you this – I will bring that same compassion to the challenges we face today,” he assured the Britons.