Sunak will succeed Liz Truss seven weeks after she defeated him in the previous Tory contest.

The ex-chancellor gained the support of well over half of Tory MPs, with Mordaunt struggling to reach the threshold of 100 MPs to get on the ballot.

He will become the UK’s first British Asian PM and at 42, the youngest in more than a century.

Labour have reiterated their call for a general election, as have the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats.

(BBC News)

The PM said her successor will be elected in a Tory leadership contest, to be completed in the next week.

Tory MPs urged Ms Truss to go after her government was engulfed by political turmoil, following the ditching of most of her economic policies.

Ms Truss was elected by the Tory membership in September, but she lost authority after a series of U-turns.

In a brief speech outside Downing Street, Ms Truss said the Conservative Party had elected her on a mandate to cut taxes and boost economic growth.

But given the situation, Ms Truss said: “I recognise that I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and other opposition parties called for an immediate general election following Ms Truss’s resignation speech.

Ms Truss said she would remain in post until a successor formally takes over as party leader and is appointed prime minister by King Charles III.

Jeremy Hunt – who was appointed chancellor last week – has said he will not stand in the leadership contest to be the next prime minister.

(BBC News)