Politics

Rishi Sunak's first speech as Prime Minister – the best reactions and memes

Rishi Sunak's first speech as Prime Minister – the best reactions and memes
‘Mistakes were made’: Sunak vows to ‘fix’ Truss errors
The Independent

Well, there you have it, folks. The UK has its third Prime Minister in as many months.

Rishi Sunak was appointed to the top job by the King this morning following the resignation of Liz Truss – the shortest-serving leader in history.

Indeed, this whole thing is a pageant of superlatives: with Sunak, 42, now the first Hindu PM, the first of Asian heritage and the youngest for more than 200 years.

He gave his first address to the public just before midday on Tuesday, in which he explained “why I’m standing here as your new Prime Minister”.

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That’s a question on many people’s lips, to be sure, but we’ve not convinced the five-minute answer he gave will satisfy large swathes of the population.

Instead, scores of viewers latched onto details including the style of his lectern, his poses for the camera and his behaviour towards Downing Street's famous feline resident.

Here’s a round-up of some of the top Twitter reactions, both positive and… less positive.

Let's start with an important point to remember: regardless of your views on his policies or whether he deserves his place in Number 10, his appointment is a historic milestone – and that matters.

But that doesn't mean people can't take issues with his ascendancy to the top job for other reasons, namely that he wasn't elected by the British people – just a couple of hundred Tory MPs.

Others weren't fans of the content of his speech:

While others questioned his delivery:



Not everyone was focused on his wooden performance, however. Others were busy thinking about other kinds of wood...


That includes the return of "hot podium guy":

Meanwhile, having been accused of snubbing Matt Hancock yesterday outside Tory HQ, Sunak now found himself in the firing line for allegedly giving Larry the Cat the cold shoulder:






Of course, there was plenty of admiration for the new PM, too:

And, following his speech, world leaders flocked to offer their congratulations to their new British counterpart:


Finally, others took the opportunity to consider how long Sunak will last in Number 10, given the chaos of the past few weeks:


He is, Gary. At least for now...

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