New PM Rishi’s ‘wooden’ speech finishes with ‘awkward silence’

Rishi Sunak's first statement after being named as next PM

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Rishi Sunak has been mocked for his “wooden speech” as the new Prime Minister succumbed to an awkward silence at the conclusion of his first public address as leader of the nation. Britons joked that Mr Sunak does not know “he’s allowed to blink” as the former chancellor looked deadpan as he read off a teleprompter. As the speech came to an end, there was a painful moment of silence as the new Prime Minister seemed unsure of what to do, before he awkwardly sidestepped out of shot. 

After the former prime minister Liz Truss was repeatedly mocked for her robotic tone and poor delivery from the lectern, Britons flooded social media to offer their comments on Mr Sunak’s first public performance. 

One Briton wrote on Twitter: “Wooden speech by Rishi Sunak accompanied by an awkward silence at the end. Someone tell the future Prime Minister that he’s allowed to blink.”

One other user described the new PM as “The Rishbot”, while another said: “Rishi Sunak confirmed as the new Davros in David Tennant’s Doctor Who.”

A fourth person said: “Terrible first speech. It was so wooden & fake it made Theresa May look good. Disaster.”

In a televised address to the nation that lasted just 86 seconds,  Rishi Sunak opened by thanking his predecessor Liz Truss for her service, before describing the role of PM as the “greatest privilege of my life”. 

He said: “I would like to pay tribute to Liz Truss for her dedicated public service to the country. She has led with dignity and grace through a time of great change and under exceptionally difficult circumstances both at home and abroad.

”I am humbled and honoured to have the support of my parliamentary colleagues and to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.

“It is the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party I live in and to give back to the country I owe so much to.”

He added: “The United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge.

“We now need stability and unity and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.

“Because that is the only way we will overcome the challenges we face and build a better, more prosperous future for our children and our grandchildren.

“I pledge that I will serve you with integrity and humility. And I will work day in, day out to deliver for the British people.”

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Mr Sunak has become the Prime Minister on the second try after he lost out in the first Tory leadership contest over the summer to Liz Truss. 

In both contests, he secured support from the most MPs out of all the standing candidates, totalling 137 in the first attempt and roughly 193 over this weekend. 

But over the summer, he lost out at the Party membership vote, some said because of his unrelatability. 

Nigel Farage, renewing those suggestions on Monday, said the multimillionaire would lose the Conservatives the red wall because the working class voter would not feel the new PM represented them. 

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