Reuters reports:
Britain’s Rishi Sunak said he would meet King Charles to formally resign as prime minister on Friday and would also stand down as leader of the defeated Conservative Party after Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won a landslide election victory. “I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change, and yours is the only judgment that matters,” Sunak said in a speech to voters outside the prime minister’s office in Downing Street.
The Associated Press reports:
Labour leader Keir Starmer won’t actually become prime minister until a carefully choreographed ceremony on Friday during which King Charles III will formally ask him to form a new government. It’s a moment that embodies the fact that, technically at least, the right to govern in the United Kingdom is still derived from royal authority, centuries after real political power was transferred to elected members of Parliament.
The prime minister-to-be sweeps into the palace for a ceremony known as the “Kissing of Hands,’’ though no kissing actually occurs. After the king asks Starmer to form a government, he will bow and shake Charles’ hand. Though there’s no record of what is said between monarch and prime minister, dramatic activity will be swirling outside the palace gates. News helicopters will follow Starmer and Sunak’s cars to the palace and back.
King Charles arrives at Buckingham Palace ahead of Rishi Sunak’s resignation https://t.co/XZAnqeLSlv pic.twitter.com/u7COfaFUXP
— Politico Digital UK (@PoliDigitalUK) July 5, 2024
Rishi Sunak arrives at Buckingham Palace to hand King Charles his resignation as prime minister
ITV News Royal Editor @chrisshipitv explains the King’s role on results day: https://t.co/5CEgsJruuj pic.twitter.com/sWViRNDp0o
— ITV News (@itvnews) July 5, 2024
“I take full responsibility for this loss.”
Rishi Sunak says “I’m sorry” and resigns as Prime Minister – as the Conservatives suffer their worst ever election defeat. pic.twitter.com/KYqodBfrv6
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) July 5, 2024