Rishi Sunak becomes UK prime minister, faces economic crisis

Rishi Sunak leaves the Conservative Campaign Headquarters in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Rishi Sunak will become the next Prime Minister after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest. [AP]

Rishi Sunak became Britain's third prime minister of the year on Tuesday and now must turn his attention to taming an economic crisis that has left the country's finances in a precarious state and millions of Britons struggling to afford food and energy bills.

Sunak, the U.K.'s first leader of color, met at Buckingham Palace with King Charles III, who had just accepted the resignation of Liz Truss. In Britain's constitutional monarchy, the monarch plays a ceremonial role in appointing government leaders.