Incoming Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must invest in skills in order to level-up Waveney, the constituent's MP has warned.

Just weeks after finishing as runner-up to Liz Truss in the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson, Mr Sunak won the backing of fellow MPs to be elected as the next Conservative leader and prime minister.

Waveney MP Peter Aldous said he was "relieved" that colleagues picked Mr Sunak.

He said he expected Monday's fiscal statement to include some "tough" measures but said he had "every confidence" in the prime minister to "restore the Conservative party's reputation for financial competence", which he said had been "trashed" in the past month.

Mr Aldous added that he hoped there would "not be any further negative, unnecessary negative impact on people's mortgages, and on the value of their pensions".

He added that he believed Mr Sunak becoming prime minister would be good news for rural communities.

Mr Aldous said: "In my own constituency there are some significant projects going ahead.

"But I think there is a need to improve connectivity to the region. So I hope that he will look again, at the rail improvements required at Ely and Haughley junctions.

"To really achieve meaningful levelling up, we need a significant investment in skills. We see that in our area with the opportunities that are emerging in renewables – with the nuclear power station, likely to be developed at Sizewell, and also the offshore wind projects in the North Sea.

"I think there's got to be a serious emphasis on that, because it can fuel sustained economic growth, and at the same time, it addresses our very poor performance with regard to productivity which has overhung the UK economy for a very long time.

"Those are the sorts of things that I would be looking for him to address as prime minister.

"But we've learnt there is a need for long-term planning and to do these things in a responsible, coherent way."