Liz Truss replaces Boris Johnson as U.K. prime minister

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Liz Truss is UK’s next prime minister, succeeding scandal-hit Boris Johnson.
• Truss beat Rishi Sunak to win as the leader of the Conservative Party and therefore the government.
• The Queen formally accepted Johnson’s resignation and appointed Truss as British prime minister on Tuesday.

Liz Truss has been elected the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, succeeding scandal-tarnished Boris Johnson.

Truss beat her rival Rishi Sunak as the elected leader of the ruling Conservative Party on Monday. 

Truss won with 81, 386 votes (56.3% of the vote) from Conservative members, compared with 63,099 for Sunak (43.7%).

After the announcement, Truss delivered a speech and thanked her “friend” Johnson, who she said was admired “from Kyiv to Carlisle”, referencing the outgoing prime minister’s extensive support in Ukraine against Russia.

The new PM pledged to enact an agenda immediately, saying: “We will deliver, we will deliver, we will deliver – and we will deliver a great victory for the Conservatives in 2024.”

Johnson was forced to quit after three stormy years in power. In July, he tried to cling on to power after a mounting series of scandals, and mass resignations from his government.

On Tuesday, Johnson delivered a farewell speech on the steps of Number 10 Downing Street on Tuesday. He traveled to the Scottish highlands to tender his resignation to the Queen at Balmoral castle. The 96-year-old monarch formally accepted his resignation.

“This is it, folks,” Johnson said in his speech. “What I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for politics to be over, folks. It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team and her program.”

Truss, who also traveled to Scotland to meet the Queen, accepted her request “to form a new Administration,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

“Ms Truss accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon her appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.”

It was the first time Queen Elizabeth conducts such a handover outside of London, as she limits her movements as she aged.

The new PM will face a long list of problems as inflation hits double digits, the cost of energy jumps and the Bank of England warns of a lengthy recession by the end of this year.

Truss on Sunday vowed that she would act on the looming energy crisis. According to The Daily Telegraph, she may freeze bills with public money. 

Truss, who has been championing tax cuts as the best way to stimulate growth, said she would take many actions to address the worsening economic picture and that “not all those decisions will be popular”.

Source: Reuters