Cornwall MPs give their backing to new Prime Minister
Rishi Sunak will be formally appointed later
Cornwall's MPs have been reacting to the news that Rishi Sunak will become the new Prime Minister.
He will be appointed into the role when he meets the King at Buckingham Palace later, following Liz Truss' formal resignation.
After this, Mr Sunak will have to decide his new top team. It is understood that Jeremy Hunt will remain Chancellor, with an economic statement lined up for Monday.
Steve Double - MP for St Austell and Newquay - has congratulated the new leader of the Conservative party:
"I backed Rishi in the summer leadership contest. Following the resignation of Liz Truss I did not hesitate in placing my support firmly behind his leadership bid.
"Rishi has an incredibly strong track record of doing what is necessary to support households and businesses during the pandemic as Chancellor, and his emphasis on fiscal responsibility and pragmatism in delivering on our manifesto promises is a much-welcomed change.
"I look forward to a return to stability and competence in Government and Parliament under Rishi’s leadership, as we work quickly to address the many challenges facing Cornwall and the country, from the rising cost of living to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine."
Cherilyn Mackrory, MP for Truro and Falmouth, has described Mr Sunak as "one of the most gifted and able people in Parliament":
"He is a serious politician who navigated the pandemic with enormous skill and designed successful support schemes that rescued millions of individuals and businesses across the country from financial ruin during COVID. I know that many of the businesses in Cornwall will be forever grateful to him for that.
"We cannot underestimate the support that was given to people and businesses in Cornwall during the COVID pandemic, and it’s important to remember this was only up to two years ago. For example, 18,000 people who live in my Truro and Falmouth constituency were furloughed during COVID – that is just about one in every four people.
"This carefully constructed scheme provided grants to employers so they could retain and continue to pay staff during coronavirus related lockdowns, by furloughing employees at up to 80% of their wages.
"Not only this, the Chancellor at the time also provided ÂŁ134 million of loans to businesses in this constituency through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. Over 5,000 individuals in this constituency who were self-employed received over ÂŁ44 million in support, averaging just shy of ÂŁ9,000 per person.
"Not to mention other creative initiatives like Eat Out to Help Out, where 329,000 meals were claimed in this constituency, providing nearly ÂŁ2 million for local cafes, bars and restaurants across the constituency.
"My overriding point is that the new Prime Minister is uniquely well-equipped to support people in Cornwall when times are tough and has a proven track record.
"As ever, I remain fully committed to representing the people of Truro and Falmouth and will continue to get on with the job at hand."
Scott Mann, the MP for North Cornwall, said: "Rishi Sunak commands wide support from Parliamentary Conservatives.
"This helps provide party discipline and unity which has been a huge concern to me. I back his leadership bid so we can get back to delivering for North Cornwall and the country."
Camborne and Redruth MP, George Eustice, tells us that Mr Sunak has "good judgement": "He has a good level of knowledge and expertise when it comes, in particular, to the economy and financial markets. That's what we need most at the moment.
"Most important of all, in all my dealings with him over the last few years, he can grasp complex, detailed issues very quickly and that's what you need in a Prime Minister.
"It's been an incredibly traumatic six weeks and I know we have got to work incredibly hard to regain the confidence of people. We're all going to unite behind Rishi Sunak, to make sure we can bring stability to the economy."
Derek Thomas MP and Sheryll Murray MP are yet to comment on the news. Mr Thomas had previously given his backing to Penny Mordaunt, whilst Mrs Murray was in support of Boris Johnson - before he pulled out of the Tory leadership race.