UK's Sunak says 'sorry' to public as he leaves office
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The landslide victory means Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the party, will now become Prime
00:04Minister. Take a listen to what Rishi Sunak had to say.
00:09To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry. I have given this
00:15job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom
00:21must change, and yours is the only judgement that matters. I have heard your anger, your
00:29disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss. Following this result, I will
00:35step down as party leader, not immediately, but once the formal arrangements for selecting
00:40my successor are in place.
00:44Well let's get more from our correspondent, Benedict Paviot, who is in London for us.
00:47She was listening to the speech. It's good to have you again, Benedict. Rishi Sunak really
00:52speaking there, apologising, saying he's heard the anger and disappointment from the British
00:56public. He's really taking the fall here, isn't he?
01:01Yes, this is a contrite Prime Minister, outgoing Prime Minister, leader of the Conservative
01:08Party, and who tried to stabilise what was a very volatile situation after the very brief
01:15premiership of his predecessor, Liz Truss, with huge turmoil in the markets. I am sorry.
01:22I have heard your anger. Accompanied by his wife, who was standing just a few metres away
01:28from him, and we watched it very carefully. We are indeed in Downing Street. This time
01:35he didn't get rained on, they made sure of that. He apologised to all his colleagues
01:41who have lost their jobs. Let's remember that over 15 Ministers, the Defence Secretary
01:47Grant Shapps, the Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt, many have lost their jobs. The Veterans
01:53Minister Johnny Mercer, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former Minister as well. So he thanked the
02:01party, the activists, supporters, and clearly he knows that he has fallen short. He praised
02:09his successor, Keir Starmer, and he announced that he will step down as party leader, but
02:16of course that will be a process that will take a certain amount of time, and he will
02:21stay until a replacement is found. A successor is appointed amongst the 100 or so Conservative
02:31MPs that were elected yesterday, and it is a very painful time. He said it was a difficult
02:39day amongst many difficult days. He then left, he is now at the palace, seeing King
02:44Charles, the head of state, and tendering his resignation. Tell us what is next now
02:49for the UK. What is next for us, for the UK, and indeed for this country, is here in Downing
03:01Street, we will see Keir Starmer, who will arrive as Prime Minister. How does that process
03:07work? Well, minutes after the outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has tendered his resignation
03:12to King Charles at Buckingham Palace, another car sweeps in, and that is the car of his
03:18successor, Keir Starmer, who is leader, has the biggest, well, has a majority and the
03:24biggest number of MPs in the lower house of the British Parliament, the elected house,
03:29the House of Commons, and therefore the head of state, the King, will ask him to form a
03:35government. Interestingly, I understand, yet to be completely confirmed, that we won't
03:40just get the Defence Secretary, the Foreign Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Chancellor
03:44of the Exchequer, Finance Minister appointments, but the aim is to actually complete the entire
03:50government appointments today. That is a tall order, but it would certainly send a very
03:56strong message that they have been, they, the Labour Party and Keir Starmer, have been
04:00getting ready for this first time after 14 years of Conservative rule for government.
04:06Of course, in a few days' time, he'll be flying off to Washington for that NATO summit. Then
04:12he'll be back in the UK and that will be for the UK to host at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace
04:18of Winston Churchill, a very important European meeting with many European leaders attending,
04:24discussing security, the war in Ukraine, and many other things besides. So, a very busy
04:30schedule for a man who clearly wanted this job very much, Keir Starmer, who will, I'm
04:35sure, in his expectant speech when he comes here as Prime Minister, having come back from
04:39Buckingham Palace, again reiterate, we've done it, it's the beginning, it's a start,
04:45it's time for change, the British people voted for it, and he'll try and reassure everyone,
04:51when there is a decline in the trust in politicians and in governments here, that they are going
04:56to do their best to improve what often is being referred to as a broken country, improve
05:03the National Health Service, improve the number of teachers, for example. So, we will watch
05:07that and we'll debrief with you the new Prime Minister's speech here shortly in Downing
05:13Street.
05:14Benedict Paviot, our correspondent in London there at Downing Street, thank you so much
05:18for your insight. We'll, of course, be crossing over to Benedict when we get those new developments.