Liz Truss won the Conservative Party leader and Britain’s next prime minister on Monday, taking office as the country grapples with a cost-of-living crisis, industrial unrest and recession.
After weeks of bitter and divisive party leadership contest, Truss ran against former finance minister Rishi Sunak, Truss won the party membership contest by 60,399 to 81,326 votes.
“We have to show what we’re going to deliver in the next two years. I’m going to deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy,” Truss said after the results were announced.
“I’m going to respond to the energy crisis by dealing with people’s energy bills, but I’m also going to deal with the long-term problems we have with energy supply.”
Monday’s announcement triggers the start of a transition of power from Boris Johnson, who was forced to announce his resignation in July after months of scandal. He is due to travel to Scotland on Tuesday to meet with Queen Elizabeth to officially hand in his resignation letter. His successor will be asked to follow him and form the government.
Truss, a longtime contender to replace Johnson, will become the Conservative Party’s fourth prime minister since the 2015 election. During that time, the country suffered several crises and is now facing a long recession fueled by rising inflation. , which reached 10.1% in July.
Truss, 47, Johnson’s foreign secretary, pledged to act quickly to tackle the UK’s cost of living crisis, saying within a week he would come up with a plan to tackle rising energy bills and protect the fuel future.
Truss signaled during his campaign that he would defy convention by ending tax increases and cutting other charges that some economists say would fuel inflation.
That, along with the Bank of England’s mandate to review and protect its independence, has led some investors to discount the pound and government bonds.
Truss faces a long, expensive and difficult to-do list, which opposition lawmakers say is the result of 12 years of weak Conservative rule. Many have called for an early election, which Truss said he would not allow.
Truss said he would appoint a strong cabinet and reject a “presidential-style” government, a source close to him said, and he would have to fight to win over some lawmakers from his party who supported Sunak in the race.
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