Hucknall MP delighted to see Rishi Sunak as new Tory leader and Prime Minister

Mr Sunak, 42, becomes the third Prime Minister Britain has had this year, following on from Boris Johnson – under whom Mr Spencer served in the cabinet as chief whip and leader of the House of Commons – and Liz Truss, who resigned earlier this month after just six weeks in No.10.

Mr Sunak was defeated in that leadership contest but had no challengers this time around as he secured the backing of almost 200 fellow Conservative MPs while his only main challenger, Penny Mordaunt pulled out when she failed to gain the necessary numbers of Tory MPs to support her.

Mr Spencer, who publicly backed Mr Sunak both in the leadership contest Ms Truss won, and again this time, said, “I am delighted that Rishi Sunak is our new Prime Minister.

"Over the course of this past summer, I was firmly of the belief that Rishi was, and is, the leader that can unite our party, bring the whole country together and win us that fifth general election victory and my opinion has not faltered.

"In serious times like these, we need a person to step up to the plate who has a proven track record of being in the room when the tough decisions have been made, and Rishi is that person.

"He is a man of good character and great integrity, and I have seen first-hand during my time served with him in the cabinet that he has the ability to steer us through the unprecedented global challenges we now face.”

Former Chancellor Mr Sunak faces a daunting challenge as Prime Minister with the cost of living crisis still looming over the country.

Moreover, he has the job of trying to reunite a Conservative Party that has become hugely divided in recent weeks.

In his first speech as Prime Minister, Mr Sunak said he was ‘determined to fix the mistakes made by his predecessor and said the UK was facing a ‘profound economic crisis’ and vowed to put ‘the country's needs above politics’.