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PM Rishi Sunak is preparing for his first day as Prime Minister with a hellish in-tray that includes soaring inflation, rising energy bills and a £40billion black-hole as he decides on a new cabinet with Penny Mordaunt possibly in line for a top role.
The new Prime Minister, 42, is due to travel to the palace meet King Charles tomorrow morning before making his first address to the nation outside Downing Street at around 11.35am.
But he must now also choose a Cabinet to tackle a plethora of issues facing the UK, having earlier vowed to run No10 with ‘integrity and humility’ before warning of the ‘profound challenges’ to come.
Mr Sunak faces a £40bn black hole in the public finances amid speculation he could delay the Halloween Budget, while his new Cabinet must also deal with skyrocketing energy bills and soaring inflation that has left families struggling amid a cost-of-living crisis.
The new PM has vowed to appoint a Cabinet of ‘all the talents’ as he tries to foster party unity. He told MPs yesterday that he wanted his government to represent the ‘views and opinions’ from across the Conservative Party.
It comes after his predecessor Liz Truss was accused of failing to appoint MPs from across the Tory spectrum when she entered office last month.
Mr Sunak is expected to bring back some Johnson loyalists, keep members of Ms Truss’s team – and promote his allies. And there could yet be another return to front-line politics for Michael Gove.
But the likes of Ben Wallace, popular among party members, is believed to be at risk of losing his role as Defense Secretary amid claims defense could be one of the areas cut as Sunak looks to fill the £40bn budget black hole.
On his first day in No 10, the new Tory leader will be told about the current Chancellor’s plans to get the public finances under control. Jeremy Hunt outlined the size of the problem to Mr Sunak over the weekend, but did not give details of his package to solve it.
Mr Hunt is widely expected to remain as Chancellor to avoid further unsettling the markets. He has been hard at work coming up with a plan to get the public finances under control currently due to be announced on October 31 but it could yet be pushed back.
The pair is also allies. After dropping out of the Tory leadership contest in the summer, Mr Hunt backed Mr Sunak an endorsement he repeated on Sunday night.
But Mr Sunak’s first choice to be his chancellor last time round was Mel Stride the Tory chairman of the Commons Treasury committee. Mr Stride is a well-respected figure in the parliamentary party, and he helped to run Mr Sunak’s leadership bid. He could now be in line for another prominent job.
