How Rishi Sunak will spend his first week as Prime Minister

An appointment with the King, a first Commons appearance as PM and a Halloween budget: Here’s how Rishi Sunak will spend his first week in No10

• New Tory leader Rishi Sunak is set for a whirlwind first week as Prime Minister 
• He is set to visit King Charles at Buckingham Palace to be formally appointed
• He also faces PMQs and a Halloween budget in his first seven days as premier 

Rishi Sunak has been elected as Tory leader and is set for a whirlwind first week as Prime Minister.

First of all, the 42-year-old will have to make a trip to see King Charles at Buckingham Palace in order to be formally appointed as PM. 

He will then face a first appearance in the House of Commons as the country’s new premier. 

Mr Sunak’s thoughts will also be dominated by how he’s going to fix the public finances with a Halloween budget looming next Monday.

Here’s how his first seven days as PM are likely to pan out:

Tonight/tomorrow – Mr Sunak is set to visit King Charles at Buckingham Palace tomorrow – or possibly as early as tonight – in order to be formally appointed as PM.

This will come after departing premier Liz Truss has visited the monarch to officially offer her resignation.

Mr Sunak is likely to make his first address to the nation from Downing Street once he returns from the Palace.

His thoughts will then turn to appointing the top team that will sit around the Cabinet table with him in No 10.

Soon after he arrives at his new office, Mr Sunak will be expected to summon Tory MPs to be appointed to the most senior Government jobs.

This could include giving Penny Mordaunt, who ended up being his closest rival in the Tory leadership race, the role of Foreign Secretary.

Jeremy Hunt is also tipped to remain as Chancellor, while Suella Braverman might make a return as Home Secretary.

Once he’s appointed his Cabinet, Mr Sunak will also have to conduct a reshuffle of more junior Government roles with many of his allies set for jobs.

Rishi Sunak waves in central London after winning the Tory leadership contest today. He is set for a whirlwind first week as Prime Minister

Wednesday – Mr Sunak is due to make his first appearance in the House of Commons as PM when he takes on Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions.

The Labour leader will be expected to once again demand a general election as he faces a third Tory leader in the Commons in the space of just over three months.

Mr Sunak will be hoping for strong support from the Tory benches behind him, as he seeks to reunite Conservative MPs under his leadership following this year’s two divisive leadership contests.

Friday – One of the major challenges facing the incoming PM is restoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

New elections are due to be held at Stormont if there is no return to a power-sharing government before Friday.

If no agreement is reached between Northern Ireland’s parties prior to that deadline, Mr Sunak has a legal duty to send voters to the polls for the second time this year.

The election is likely to be held before Christmas. 

The DUP is currently blocking the functioning of Stormont institutions as part of their protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

But the party is under pressure to end their boycott of Stormont while resumed talks between the UK Government and the EU over the Protocol continue.

Mr Sunak will hope that increased positivity around the state of those negotiations with Brussels will soon lead to a breakthrough in the Protocol row.

Next Monday – The Government is due to deliver its medium-term fiscal plan on Halloween.

The statement has been promised as a means of bringing further stability to financial markets by setting out how a £60billion blackhole in the public finances will be filled.

Mr Sunak is likely to have to oversee severe spending cuts and possible tax rises as he attempts to claw back money into the Treasury coffers.

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