Rishi Sunak to take over as Prime Minister of UK today

Rishi Sunak will become the UK's next prime minister today after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace in the morning.

At the start of the day, outgoing PM Liz Truss will hold her last cabinet meeting before she is expected to make a departing statement outside Number 10 Downing Street at 10.15 am UK time.

Ms Truss, who became the shortest-serving leader in UK history when she resigned after just 44 days, will then travel to Buckingham Palace for her final audience with King Charles.

Mr Sunak has vowed to bring stability and unity at a time of economic crisis after he was named the Conservative party's new leader. 

He told reporters that the United Kingdom is a great country but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge. 

Sunak defeated centrist politician Penny Mordaunt, who failed to get enough backing from lawmakers to enter the ballot, while his rival, the former prime minister Boris Johnson, withdrew from the contest saying he could no longer unite the party.

Sunak will become the UK's first British Asian Prime Minister. 42-year-old Sunak becomes Britain's third Prime Minister in less than two months as Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have resigned from their posts. We have a profile of the new British Prime Minister.