Rishi Sunak has been named the UK's next prime minister

Rishi Sunak will be the UK's next prime minister.

The former chancellor will be the UK's first British Asian PM and also the youngest for more than 200 years.

In his first public address since the announcement, he paid tribute to Liz Truss for her "dignified" leadership "under difficult circumstances abroad and at home".

• All you need to know about Rishi Sunak

He added that he is "humbled and honoured" to have the support of his fellow MPs and be elected leader, calling it "the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party I love and give back to the country I owe so much to".

More than half of Conservative MPs publicly backed Mr Sunak ahead of leadership nominations closing on Monday afternoon.

And when remaining rival Penny Mordaunt withdrew after failing to reach the 100 votes she needed to stand, it meant he was the only person left in the race to be Tory leader and prime minister.

He will take over from Liz Truss, who announced her resignation last week.

He is expected to start his new job on Tuesday after formally meeting King Charles III.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson dropped out of the contest on Sunday evening after saying it was not the "right time" for him to try to make a comeback as leader.

This win means he becomes the new Tory party leader on Diwali - the Hindu festival of lights - as well as the first UK prime minister from an Indian background.

Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the contest to become PM just before the 2pm deadline

What has the reaction been to the result?

Outgoing prime minister Liz Truss congratulated Rishi Sunak and said he has her full support.

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross said the party's new leader is "uniquely well equipped for the task".

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey says the Tories are installing "another out-of-touch prime minister", while Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner has complained that he has become prime minister without him "saying a word" about what he plans to do in No 10.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: "The Tories cannot be allowed to impose a third prime minister without a general election, voters must get a say and the SNP is determined to ensure they do."

But the Conservatives say this would be even worse for the country, and the best thing for the UK now is stability.

Who is Rishi Sunak?

You might recognise him as someone who was on TV a lot during lockdown.

He took the role of chancellor not long before the coronavirus pandemic broke out and during that time he made lots of big decisions about how the UK should spend its money.

Some of the measures he introduced were popular with the public, for example the furlough scheme which gave money to support people who weren't able to work due to businesses closing.

He also gave money to support businesses, and introduced schemes like the 'Eat Out to Help Out' which was aimed to increase how much people were spending and help get the economy get going again after lockdown came to an end.

Rishi Sunak said that to support jobs the government needed "to be creative and brave".

But the scheme was later linked to a spike in infections, while others think he spent too much money during his time as chancellor which could cause more problems for the UK economy in the long term.

What other jobs has he had?

He has always had a background in money and finance and from 2001 to 2004, Mr Sunak was an analyst for a big finance company called Goldman Sachs.

In 2015, he made his move into politics, becoming the Conservative MP for Richmond in Yorkshire.

Rishi Sunak is also married and has two daughters

It didn't take him long to start taking on more roles in the government, starting as a junior minister in Theresa May's government before being made chief secretary to the Treasury by Boris Johnson.

He was promoted to chancellor in February 2020 and was a vocal supporter of Mr Johnson at first.

But he eventually resigned from the job in July 2022, a move that contributed to Mr Johnson having to step down from his job as Tory leader and prime minister.

How did he finally get the PM job?

This will have felt like a long time coming for the former chancellor.

Mr Sunak had been the favourite to take the job off his old boss Boris Johnson after he resigned as prime minister in July.

Over the summer a contest was held to find a new leader of the Conservative Party. Mr Sunak focused on one main issue: the worsening state of the UK economy, and his plan to sort it out.

But he failed to convince enough members of the party that he was the right person for the job, and was beaten by Liz Truss at the deciding vote in December.

Rishi Sunak came a close second to Liz Truss in the leadership race over the summer

However some of the decisions Ms Truss made about the economy caused big problems for her - and led to some members of the party saying she was the wrong choice, and that they should have chosen Mr Sunak.

This time around Mr Sunak said he was standing as PM to fix a "profound economic crisis" as well as unite his party.

What will he do as Prime Minister?

Experts have warned that he will face a very difficult set of challenges, tasked with rebuilding Britain's reputation for handling money responsibly - something that was damaged during the time Liz Truss was leader.

Last month, the UK's sterling currency plunged to a record low against the dollar and government borrowing costs rose sharply after Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini-budget.

Investors were concerned after the then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng promised major tax cuts without saying how they would be paid for - something Mr Sunak warned about during this summer's leadership contest.

Kwasi Kwarteng was the first chancellor who worked under Liz Truss

The new prime minister will have to work through the country's financial problems, and also try to help the public at a time people across the country are facing surging energy bills, rising prices and needing more money to be able to buy or rent a house.

Many other parties have been calling for a general election, to allow the public to decide if they still want the Conservative Party to continue to lead the country.

Rishi Sunak has ruled out a General Election, so as things stand he will have until 2024, when an election has to be called, to convince both his party and public that he can make the best choices for the UK going forward.