Rishi Sunak to become Britain’s third PM of the year at meeting with King Charles III

Liz Truss will depart after making a brief public statement, seven weeks to the day after she was appointed Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak is due to be installed as Britain’s third Prime Minister of the year by King Charles III on October 25, 2022, before appointing a Cabinet that will have to wrestle with the U.K.’s economic and political crises.

Mr. Sunak, the U.K.’s first leader of color, was selected as leader of the governing Conservative Party on Monday as it tries to stabilize the economy, and its own plunging popularity, after the brief, disastrous term of Liz Truss.

Ms. Truss will depart after making a brief public statement outside 10 Downing Street, seven weeks to the day after she was appointed prime minister by Queen Elizabeth II. The queen died two days later. Now her son will take over the ceremonial role of accepting Ms. Truss’ resignation at Buckingham Palace before asking Mr. Sunak to form a government.

Mr. Sunak — at 42 the youngest British leader for more than 200 years — must try to shore up an economy sliding toward recession and reeling after his predecessor’s experiment in libertarian economics, while also attempting to unite a demoralized and divided party that trails far behind the opposition in opinion polls.

His top priorities will be appointing Cabinet ministers, and preparing for a budget statement that will set out how the government plans to come up with billions of pounds (dollars) to fill a fiscal hole created by soaring inflation and a sluggish economy, and exacerbated by Truss’ destabilizing economic experiments.

The statement, set to feature tax increases and spending cuts, is currently due to be made in Parliament on Monday by Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt — if Mr. Sunak keeps him in the job.

Mr. Sunak, who was Treasury chief himself for two years until July, said Monday that Britain faces “a profound economic challenge.”