Morning View: Sunak deserves top job, given his budget warnings

Only weeks ago we were noting the fact that the News Letter has reported on every prime minister Britain has ever had.Robert Walpole, the first premier, was in Downing Street when this newspaper was launched in 1737.

Last month Liz Truss became the 56th prime minister we have covered (while King Charles becomes the 11th monarch).

Ms Truss was a conscientious and honourable leader but never recovered from her appallingly misjudged first financial statement, issued by her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on September 23, and which led to her resignation last week.

Now Rishi Sunak, beaten by Ms Truss in a leadership contest just weeks ago, has become the UK's fifth prime minister in a mere six years.

Just as we offered our warmest congratulations to Ms Truss on her elevation weeks ago, we offer the same to Mr Sunak on his entry into Number 10.

He is a formidably intelligent politician and potentially a great leader.

Mr Sunak spelt out clearly in the last Tory leadership race why he felt Ms Truss's plans for uncosted and immediate tax cuts, in the absence of specified expenditure cuts and at a time of great financial uncertainty, would end in disaster.

And it did, just as he said.

The one-time chancellor could have been a political coward and promised that he too would give voters tax cuts without anyone, anywhere suffering pain.

It is greatly to his credit that he did not do that, and thus the top job is deservedly his.

He is also the first prime minister of colour, a huge and welcome moment in British history.

Within days Mr Sunak will need to make decisions on the Northern Ireland Protocol. The unionism that he professed in the Tory hustings outside Belfast in August will be put to an immediate test.