Rishi Sunak Will Be The First Indian-Origin UK Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak was named the Prime Minister of UK this evening, tasked to steer the economically floundering nation days after his predecessor Liz Truss stepped down, conceding defeat.

Here are the Top 10 points in this big story:

1. Rishi Sunak is the third Prime Minister UK had in seven months. Liz Truss – who pipped him to the post in the party's internal election and succeeded Boris Johnson -- quit on October 20 after only 45 days in office. He is the youngest and the first Prime Minister of colour in UK.

2. Boris Johnson, who entered the race again last week cutting short a Caribbean holiday, ended his bid for the post yesterday in a surprise decision. He said he would not be able to lead "a united party in parliament".

3. The other contender, Penny Mordaunt, failed to secure the crucial number required to contest the party's internal election and dropped out of the race. Mr Sunak has the support of 142 members of the parliament - far above the 100-mark required to bag the top job.

4. "I want to fix our economy, unite our party and deliver for our country," the Indian-origin former chancellor had said in a short statement.

5. Liz Truss had quit the top post after her plan for a mini-budget – featuring massive unfunded tax cuts – spooked markets.

6. Britain is facing an economically toxic combination of recession and rising interest rates. Critics blame the economic downturn on the Conservative Party and what they called its "series of miscalculations".

7. The pound rose briefly today as it became clear that Mr Sunak will be the next Prime Minister.

8. During the summer leadership campaign, Rishi Sunak had criticised Liz Truss's tax-cutting agenda, saying he would only cut taxes once inflation had been brought under control. He had also outlined a plan to cut income tax from 20% to 16% by 2029.

9. Rishi Sunak has also backed the independence of the Bank of England and stressed the importance of government policy working alongside the central bank to tame inflation, not exacerbating it.

10. In India, Mr Sunak has been better known through his wife, Akshata Murty, the daughter of the billionaire co-founder of Infosys Narayana Murthy.