Just over six weeks ago, Rishi Sunak stood in pouring rain to call for a snap election on July 4 in a lasting image that’s likely to define his legacy. This morning the skies were more merciful to the outgoing prime minister, as he bid farewell to Downing Street after a devastating and historic defeat at the polls.
“To the country, I would like to say, first and foremost, I am sorry. I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change, and yours is the only judgment that matters,” said Sunak. “I take responsibility for this loss,” he added as his wife, Akshata Murty, stood by him.
Sunak, who will go down in history as the least successful Conservative prime minister at the ballot box in modern times, also said he will step down as party leader once the formal arrangements for selecting his successor are in place.
He wished the incoming prime minister, Labour leader Keir Starmer, success and called him “a decent, public-spirited man who I respect.”
Sunak was appointed prime minister in Oct. 2022, coming into power on the back of multiple scandals that shook the Conservative Party and forced the resignation of the two preceding prime ministers, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Sunak was the United Kingdom’s first British Indian prime minister and its first Hindu leader. At 42, he was the youngest prime minister to take the job in over 200 years.
“This is a difficult day at the end of a number of difficult days,” Sunak said. “But I leave this job honored to have been your Prime Minister.”
Sunak walked away from Downing Street, hand in hand with his wife, and got into a car. He will next head to Buckingham Palace next to hand his resignation to King Charles III.
