Well done Rishi – now fix the protocol for us

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the new Conservative leader – who will be formally appointed to the role of prime minister after the outgoing PM Liz Truss meets with the King this morning – must work to ensure that problems caused by the current post-Brexit trading arrangements don’t hinder political progress in Northern Ireland.

Doug Beattie of the UUP and TUV leader Jim Allister also called on Mr Sunak to act quickly.

Mr Beattie said that NI “cannot continue to be used as political football between the UK and the EU,” while Mr Allister said that if the new PM is truly to be prime minister of the UK, then he must reverse the “sovereignty-grab of the EU over Northern Ireland whereby Brussels’ laws govern much of our economy”.

Mr Sunak becomes the UK's first Hindu prime minister, the first of Asian heritage, and the youngest for more than 200 years at the age of 42.

In his first message to MPs as leader, he said Conservatives must “unite or die” as a party.

He also ruled out opposition demands for a general election after he won the Tory leadership race yesterday when rival Penny Mordaunt failed to win the backing of MPs.

Ms Truss, who will make way for Mr Sunak less than two months after she beat him in the last leadership contest, told her successor "you have my full support".