On Monday, Sunak was elected the head of the ruling Conservative Party and, as such, the new prime minister for lack of other contenders. On Tuesday, King Charles III officially appointed Sunak to the post and asked him to form a government.
"An honour to have been one of the longest serving Cabinet ministers — having done eight ministerial roles, in five departments, under four Prime Ministers. The new PM will have my support from the back benches to tackle the many challenges we face — as a Party and as a country," Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis said on Twitter while announcing his resignation.
Apart from Lewis, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, Education Secretary Kit Malthouse, Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith, Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena, Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland, Party Chairman Jake Berry, Minister of State for Development in the Foreign Office Vicky Ford, Chief Whip Wendy Morton and Levelling up Secretary Simon Clarke also announced their resignation.
Sunak became the country's third prime minister in 2022. In July, then-leader Boris Johnson announced his intention to step down due to accusations of violating COVID-19 regulations and sexual assault claims against Government Deputy Chief Whip Christopher Pincher, whom he vetted. Liz Truss, elected in September to replace Johnson, spent only 44 days in office.
On October 20, she announced her resignation due to criticism over the government's new economic plan and the possibility of increasing public debt for its implementation.