Boris Johnson congratulates Rishi Sunak and urges ‘every Conservative to support new PM’

BORIS Johnson has congratulated Rishi Sunak on his appointment as Prime Minister and urged every Conservative to get behind him.

In a statement on Twitter the former PM called for "full and wholehearted support" from all Tories for Mr Sunak.

He wrote: "Congratulations to @RishiSunak on this historic day, this is the moment for every Conservative to give our new PM their full and wholehearted support."

Today, Sunak vowed to fix the "mistakes" made by Liz Truss as he swept into No10 as Britain's 57th Prime Minister.

While bracing the nation for "difficult decisions" ahead, the youngest premier in 200 years defiantly declared: "I am not daunted."

Making his first address to the country in Downing Street, the new PM said he would "put your needs above politics".

And the former Chancellor also paid tribute to former PM Boris in his speech.

Mr Sunak, 42, said: "I will always be grateful to Boris Johnson for his incredible achievements as Prime Minister, and I treasure his warmth and generosity of spirit.

"And I know he would agree that the mandate my party earned in 2019 is not the sole property of any one individual it is a mandate that belongs to and unites all of us. 

"And the heart of that mandate is our manifesto. I will deliver on its promise."

It comes after BoJo dramatically pulled out of the Tory leadership race on Sunday.

But he threw in the towel as MPs broke for former Chancellor Mr Sunak at a rate of more than two to one.

The former Prime Minster insisted he had the numbers to go to  a vote of membership.

King Charles formally asked Mr Sunak to form a new government shortly after 11am today, following Liz Truss' resignation.

Mr Sunak will start assembling a Cabinet "of all the talents" this afternoon that is expected to draw on all wings of the Tory Party.

In Ms Truss' farewell address on Downing Street this morning, she wished her successor well with the mammoth task at hand.

The ex-PM warned that the UK "continues to battle through the storm".

However, she added: "I believe in Britain, I believe in the British people."