HS2 is already being built between London and Birmingham but media reports have said the second leg of the route from Birmingham to Manchester will be axed after huge cost overruns.

He is looking at anti-smoking measures similar to laws New Zealand announced last year, which include a ban on selling tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan 1, 2009, The Guardian says.

The votes were one of the last electoral tests before a general election expected next year and had been seen as an indicator of the two main parties' prospects.

Akshata Murty is the daughter of the co-founder of Indian IT giant Infosys and her wealth is estimated at around US$700 million.

The allegations surrounding well-off individuals threaten to become a political distraction for Sunak as he battles to restore the Conservatives' standing in the polls in the midst of Britain's worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

Downing Street says Rishi Sunak 'fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologised'.

Opposition lawmakers will undoubtedly seek to capitalise on weeks of chaos at the top of government, and reiterate demands for a general election following the selection – by Conservative MPs – of their third leader in two months.

The new team is set to meet early Wednesday, before Sunak faces his first weekly face-off with opposition parties at 'Prime Minister's Questions' in parliament.

Economists and investors have said Sunak's appointment will calm markets, but they warn that he has few easy options when millions are battling a cost of living crunch.

At the top of the list are the UK's economic and social crises, with inflation exceeding 10%, the highest in any G7 country, owing to soaring energy tariffs and food prices.

Sunak, the 42-year-old former finance minister, becomes Britain's third prime minister in less than two months and the country's first leader of colour.

It is thought to be their first in-person discussions in months, following a spectacular falling out after Sunak's July resignation helped trigger the government mutiny that ultimately prompted Johnson's ousting.