Key times and details as Rishi Sunak to become prime minister as Liz Truss leaves Downing Street

Rishi Sunak will officially become prime minister this morning after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest.

Sunak will be the UK's third leader in seven weeks and is expected to make his first speech as PM outside Downing Street today.

We look at some of the key times and details ahead of a historic day in UK politics and how the handover of power will unfold.

Liz Truss statement: Former PM to bid farewell

Rishi Sunak departs Conservative party HQ in Westminster, London, after it was announced he will become the new leader of the Conservative party after rival Penny Mordaunt dropped out. Picture date: Monday October 24, 2022.

Liz Truss, who stepped down last week after only six weeks in office, is set to hold a farewell meeting with her Cabinet at 9am, Downing Street said.

She will then step out and make a statement outside the famous black door of No 10 at around 10.15am.

Ms Truss will then take a short car ride from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace for an audience with the King, in which she will formally tender her resignation.

Rishi Sunak speech: How to watch

Once she has left, it will be Sunak’s turn to see the King at the palace. He will be appointed as the country’s next prime minister and asked to form an administration.

Mr Sunak will then head back to Downing Street to address the nation for the first time as prime minister at around 11.35am.

The new Prime Minister is expected to address the nation just before noon, with the speech being aired on major news channels and Youtube.

It is customary for the new prime minister to be greeted by the Cabinet Secretary at the door of No 10 and get clapped in by staff before heading into the Cabinet Room to receive security and intelligence briefings from civil servants.

Mr Sunak will be handed the nuclear codes and write “letters of last resort” to commanders of submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles with orders on what to do if the Government has been wiped out in a nuclear attack.

Rishi Sunak leadership: Second-choice PM to face significant Scottish struggles

RIshi Sunak’s cabinet

He is likely to use the rest of the day to start putting together his new Cabinet as he seeks to fix a fractured party.

Mr Sunak will look to build a Cabinet of “all the talents” that will see the political return of the “adults”, according to reports.

While his team was remaining tight-lipped about the possible make-up of the team, his long-time backers Dominic Raab, the former justice secretary, Commons Treasury Committee chair Mel Stride and ex-chief whip Mark Harper were tipped to be in it.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who was brought in to steady Ms Truss’s ailing Government and has been working towards a highly-anticipated Halloween fiscal statement, is widely expected to keep the keys to No 11 to try to stabilise the jittery markets.

Ms Mordaunt, who bowed out of the race to hand Mr Sunak a spectacular political comeback as she failed to get the 100 nominations from Tory MPs, is expected to get some kind of promotion – with some speculating that she could replace Mr Cleverly as foreign secretary.

Mr Sunak could also start receiving calls from world leaders wishing him well in the new job.