Outgoing British Prime Minister Risihi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty walk to a car as they leave after he makes a statement after losing the general election, outside 10 Downing Street in London on July 5, 2024. | Photo credit: AFP
Outgoing British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologized to the public on July 5 after his Conservatives were defeated by Labor in the British general election and said he would step down as party leader.
The 44-year-old former financier gambled on entering the country six months earlier than necessary, hoping better economic data would swing public support back to the Tories.
But Thursday’s vote indicated that Britons wanted to send a clear message to the party by ousting them from power after 14 years of economic hardship, Brexit revolts and Tory infighting.
“To the country, first and foremost, I would like to say: I am sorry,” he said outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Downing Street, before heading to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation as Prime Minister to King Charles. III.
‘I gave everything for this job, but you have sent a clear message that Britain’s government needs to change. And your judgment is the only judgment that matters.â€
“I have heard your anger and your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.”
The scale of the defeat made it inevitable that Sunak – the Conservative Party’s fifth leader since 2010 – would also have to step down as Tory leader.
But he said he would remain in the role until arrangements are made for an internal leadership battle, which is expected to be a battle for the party’s ideological soul.
Mr Sunak saw a record number of members of his top ministerial team lose their seats, including Defense Secretary Grant Shapps and Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt.
His immediate predecessor as Prime Minister, Liz Truss, also lost her seat.
Mr Sunak – an observant Hindu and Britain’s first prime minister of color – wished his successor Keir Starmer well, calling him “a decent, public-spirited man who I respect”.
“One of the most remarkable things about Britain is how unremarkable it is that I was able to become prime minister two generations after my grandparents came here on little money,” he added.
“And I could see my two young daughters lighting Diwali candles on the steps of Downing Street. We have to stay true to that idea of who we are.”
