UK foreign secretary Liz Truss has won the Conservative leadership contest and will therefore become the next party leader and prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Truss – who will become only the third woman UK PM - saw off the challenge of rival Rishi Sunak after securing 57 per cent of the vote among party members.
Truss will take up her new duties on Tuesday after being formally appointed as Boris Johnson’s successor by Her Majesty the Queen.
One of her first priorities upon entering Downing Street will be to outline action to tackle rising energy costs, inflationary pressures and a slowing economy. Her campaign has been underpinned by promises to “deliver” and “deal with people’s energy bills”, with tax cuts amounting to some £30 billion having been pledged.
Truss has also promised to “govern as a Conservative” and devise a “bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy.”
She said: “I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply.”
It is understood that an announcement will be made on support for households on rising costs on Thursday this week, which could include freezing energy bills.
Among other promises, Truss has pledged to deliver on the pledges made in the party’s election manifesto of 2019 and to see off the challenge of Labour at the next general election in 2024.
Following her victory, Truss thanked her adversary for a “hard-fought campaign”. She also paid tribute to her predecessor and “friend”, Boris Johnson, praising him for having got Brexit done”, “crushed Jeremy Corbyn, “rolled out the (Covid) vaccine” and for having “stood up to (Russian president) Vladimir Putin” in defence of Ukraine.
Following the result, Sunak called on his supporters to rally behind the new prime minister as she bids to unite a fractured Conservative party.
Throughout the run-off phase the contest, Sunak was a vocal critic of Truss’ fiscal policies and warned her plans for tax cuts could fuel inflation further.
The former chancellor also signalled his intentions to continue as the MP for his Richmond constituency in North Yorkshire.
Photo by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP on Wikimedia Commons
