Sunak becomes British PM after meeting King Charles III

LONDON - Rishi Sunak became Britain's new prime minister on Tuesday after meeting King Charles III in Buckingham Palace, where the monarch asked him to form a government after the resignation of Liz Truss.

Sunak, Britain's former chancellor of the exchequer, won the ruling Conservative Party's leadership race on Monday.

The 42-year-old Sunak is the first person of Indian origin to become British prime minister and the youngest in the country's modern political history to hold the post.

He inherits an economy on the brink of recession, with an energy crisis, cost-of-living crisis and runaway inflation that defy any easy fix. Truss's attempt to use debt-funded tax cuts to spur economic growth failed to turn the situation around.

In her farewell speech, Truss defended her "growth plan," adding, "I'm more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the challenges we face."

"We simply cannot afford to be a low-growth country where the Government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth and where there are huge divides between different parts of our country. We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently," she said.

At press time, Sunak is delivering his first address to the nation outside 10 Downing Street on his vision and plans for Britain, and is expected to announce his cabinet members later in the day.