Sunak believes he will be the first prime minister to miss a meeting of a world leader in a decade

Rishi Sunak speaks with UN Secretary General António Guterres at last year's Cop27 summit. Photo: Simon Walker/Number 10 Downing Street

Rishi Sunak is considering becoming the first prime minister in a decade to miss the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, according to The Telegraph.

G- Mr. Sunak has yet to confirm his attendance at the UN General Assembly, which was a regular occurrence for all of his immediate predecessors, next month.

The Prime Minister is considering instead focusing on driving progress on his Five Pledges and preparing for the annual Conservative Party Conference.

The conference, which will be held in early October, will be Mr. Sunak's first conference as party leader and seen in Downing Street as a key moment to showcase his vision and approach to the election.

A broader fall reset is planned, which is expected to include a cabinet reshuffle and increased focus on dividing lines with Labor as the 2024 election approaches.

A source familiar with Britain's plans for a UN meeting , said, “It has to go with a lot of other things Rishi does. Nothing uploaded yet.

Shortly after becoming prime minister last October, Sunak made headlines when he announced he would not attend the UN Cop27 climate change conference. After backlash and several days of uncertainty as to whether he would attend, he eventually went to the summit in Egypt.

David Lammy, Labour's shadow foreign minister, said: «Rishi Sunak becomes the first Prime Minister a minister who sidesteps the UN General Assembly in a decade will mark the decline of the isolationist foreign policy of the Conservative Party.”

A Downing Street source said: «We will describe the Prime Minister's travel arrangements in the usual way.» /p>

The UN General Assembly has been a pillar in the annual calendar of successive prime ministers. Last year, Liz Truss attended a few days after becoming prime minister.

Boris Johnson was present in 2019 and 2021 and delivered a speech on video camera from Downing Street in 2020 when the summit became virtual due to Covid.

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Theresa May attended each year of her premiership, giving speeches in New York in 2016, 2017 and 2018. missed the summit ten years ago.

At the gathering, usually each national leader gives a speech in the main hall of the UN headquarters, which is located on the east side of Manhattan.

Mr. Sunak's diary in September looks unusually busy, and earlier this month he is visiting India for the G20 summit. The Tory conference next month will be a milestone in his efforts to keep his party united and convince MPs he can lead them to a surprise election victory.