RISHI SUNAK HAS announced his resignation of the UK’s Conservative Party in an announcement outside 10 Downing Street this morning.
Immediately after, he travelled to Buckingham Palace to hand his formal resignation to King Charles.
In his resignation speech, he said that he apologised to the British public and said “I have heard your anger”.
“I have given this job my all, but you have made it clear that you think that the government of this country should change.”
“And yours is the only voice that matters,” he said.
It comes as the Conservatives suffer their worst defeat in a century to Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, losing over 200 seats.
While Sunak was able to hold on to his seat of Richmond and Northallerton, a number of his cabinet colleagues were not so lucky. This election sets a record for the number of ministers who have lost their seats.
While Sunak said he was confident heading into the election, the result marks a major shift in UK politics, which have been dominated by Conservative governments since 2014.
Despite this, times have been tumultuous for the party since the vote to leave the EU in 2016, with five different prime ministers occupying Downing Street in the last six years.
Sunak took over the position in October 2022, following the short-lived tenure of his party colleague Liz Truss, who spent just 49 days in office.
Truss lost her seat in the early hours of this morning.
It is unclear what the future holds for the Conservatives, but some analysts see an alliance between the Conservatives and Nigel Farage’s Reform Party as a real possibility.
Keir Starmer is expected to make his first address as prime minister some time this afternoon.
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