PIERS Morgan has backed Rishi Sunak after he was confirmed as the next Prime Minister following rival Boris Johnson’s shock withdrawal from the race.
Taking to Twitter to congratulate Mr Sunak, the TalkTV pundit wished him “every success”.
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Piers wrote: “Rishi Sunak is the new UK Prime Minister.
“He’ll be the first British-Asian PM & first Hindu PM, and at 42, the youngest PM in modern times.
“I’ve backed Rishi for a long time and think he’s the right guy for the job.”
Piers has been a long-running critic of Boris Johnson, who was Mr Sunak’s closest rival for the leadership.
The world-renowned columnist tweeted yesterday, when news of Mr Johnson pulling out of the contest broke, saying: “Boris Johnson pulls out of Conservative Party leadership race, paving the way for Rishi Sunak to become Britain’s next Prime Minister. Great news.”
He was also outspoken on his views on Liz Truss, who triggered the leadership contest by resigning as PM last week.
Savaging the Truss government on TalkTV last week, he said: “These useless clowns have ravaged our country, sinking the pound, trashing the markets and sending our interest rates soaring.”
He also liked and retweeted a number of tweets calling for her to step down.
Mr Sunak will become the youngest Prime Minister in over two centuries, since William Pitt the Younger was elected in 1783 at the age of just 24.
He sneaks in below David Cameron, who was 43 when he came into office in 2010.
The new PM is not, though, in danger of becoming the youngest to ever leave office even if he were to be voted out tomorrow.
That record is held by the Duke of Grafton, who retired from his role in 1770 aged just 34.
Mr Sunak beat out both former PM Johnson and Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt in the race to replace Ms Truss after she stepped down.
He was the only candidate to officially reach the 100 MP threshold to get on the ballot as both other candidates withdrew.
Ms Truss’ government collapsed after just 45 days in office.
She now holds a record of her own as the Prime Minister with the fewest ever number of days in office.
This was not the shortest single stint in office, however, as the Duke of Wellington served as PM for just 24 days in 1834.
The Duke, though, had been in the role previously between 1828 and 1830, meaning Ms Truss ranks lowest for combined days in office.
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