King Charles Appoints New Prime Minister at Buckingham Palace – Following his victory in the race to lead the Conservative Party on Monday, Rishi Sunak was appointed by the King to serve as the head of the British Parliament. It was the first time Charles, 73, had formally asked a new prime minister to form a government, as he inherited Mr. Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss when he acceded to the throne at the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8.
After only 45 days, Truss resigned last week after losing the confidence of the dominant Conservative Party. Charles’s equerry Lt. Col. Jonny Thompson and the King’s two confidential secretaries Sir Clive Alderson and Sir Edward Young met Mr. Sunak and led him to the audience in the palace’s 1844 Room. In a statement following the meeting, Buckingham Palace said: “The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Rishi Sunak MP today and requested him to form a new Administration.” Upon being appointed as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, Mr. Sunak accepted His Majesty’s offer.
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Charles has already had two prime ministers in less than two months, whereas Queen Elizabeth had 15 in her more than 70 years as monarch, from Winston Churchill to Truss. Truss was prime minister for less than two days of the Queen’s reign, as the monarch died two days after Truss was appointed. Truss also holds the distinction of being the British prime minister with the shortest tenure in history, having announced her resignation six weeks after being formally installed on September 6 by the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
The Queen’s appearance was her last official act before passing away on September 8. Truss became the first British prime minister to rule under two distinct kings since Winston Churchill as a result of the passing of Queen Elizabeth and the inauguration of King Charles. Churchill served as prime minister with King George VI, Queen Elizabeth’s father, who passed away in 1952, from 1940 to 1945, and then again from 1951 to 1955.
Truss was the third and youngest woman to serve as U.K. prime minister, behind Margaret Thatcher (1979 to 1990) and Theresa May (2016 to 2019). Prior to her, Boris Johnson went to Balmoral for the Queen’s official farewell on September 6. Sunak makes history as the first British Asian prime minister of the United Kingdom. It came on a poignant week for him, as Monday was the first day of Diwali, the annual festival of lights.
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