Liz Truss wins Tory race to become Britain’s next prime minister

Britain’s former foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has won the ruling Conservative Party’s leadership contest, gaining the parliamentary majority to become the country’s next prime minister and replacing Boris Johnson, who was forced to resign after a series of scandals.

Truss was named the new prime minister by first MPs at the QEII Centre in Westminster on Monday, following a grueling eight-week leadership campaign.

The foreign secretary beat her rival, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, by 81,326 votes (%57.4) to 60,399 (%42.6), after a summer-long divisive battle sparked by Johnson's resignation in July.

Truss will be coming to Down Street facing a myriad of domestic and foreign challenges, chief among them the conflict in Ukraine and a toxic economic situation recently made worse by soaring food and energy prices.

On the campaign trail, she had promised “immediate action” to help tackle an all-consuming cost-of-living crisis.

Soaring cost of gas and electricity is widely expected to be the main issue defining her first few months in office. Her team says it has been working on a package to help struggling households, but details of the program have not been made public yet.

In her victory speech on Monday, Truss promised to “deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy.”

“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,” she said.

Truss ended her short maiden speech as Tory leader by promising to win the next general election in 2024.

“We need to show that we will deliver over the next two years,” she told the audience. “We all will deliver for our country, and I will make sure that we use all the fantastic talents of the Conservative Party.”

The announcement triggers the process of a handover from Johnson, who stepped down in July after months of scandal saw support for his administration drain.

Johnson will travel to Scotland to officially tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday.

Truss will follow her former boss to meet the monarch, who will give the new prime minister her blessings to form a new government.

Normally, these ceremonies would take place quickly at Buckingham Palace, which is a short distance from Downing Street, but the 96-year-old Queen will stay at her Scottish residence in Balmoral this time.

Truss then will head back to Downing Street in London to announce her new cabinet, which is likely to include many of her supporters during the leadership contest.

Johnson, who was the first British prime minister in history found to have broken the law in office during the so-called Partygate scandal, congratulated Truss after she won the Tory leadership contest.

He tweeted that Truss has the right plans to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and unite the Conservatives.

More than half -- 52 percent-- of British voters, however, believe Truss will be a “poor” or “terrible” prime minister, according to a new YouGov poll.

She was nevertheless the favorite among the estimated 200,000 Tory members charged with selecting Johnson's successor and the next British prime minister.

Truss will be taking the helm as the fourth Tory PM since a 2015 election, at a time when the country has been struggling with soaring inflation, labor strife, and crisis in the public healthcare system.

Labour Party’s leader Keir Starmer responded to Truss's election as the new Conservative leader by saying, “After 12 years of the Tories all we have to show for it is low wages, high prices, and a Tory cost of living crisis.”

Average annual household utility bills are set to increase by 80 percent in October to 3,549 pounds, before an expected rise to 6,000 pounds next year, decimating personal finances.

The surge in energy prices has been blamed on Russia’s decision to stop gas flows to Europe through its main pipeline.

The Kremlin has asserted it is not to blame for stopping the gas deliveries, saying the problems are due to Western sanctions targeting Russia since it launched a military offensive in Ukraine in February.

The Bank of England, meanwhile, has warned that inflation is set to jump to more than 13 percent and the economy will be plunged into the longest recession since the financial crisis of 2008.

Britain's Gross domestic product (GDP) is also forecast to shrink in every three-month period from October to the start of 2024, falling by as much as 2.1 percent, the Bank said.

Industrial unrest has already hit the transport networks, and public sector workers, including nurses, teachers and civil servants are considering going on strike.  

Truss will be presiding over a healthcare system whose performance has drastically deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Record numbers are on hospital waiting lists and emergency and ambulance services are overstretched. There is also the threat of industrial action, as unions are unhappy with pay and work conditions.

Truss will also have her plate full when it comes to foreign policy, with Ukraine and China expected to top the list of her most daunting challenges.  

Johnson offered Ukraine early political and military support in the face of Russia’s military campaign. Truss is expected to maintain the UK’s commitment to Ukraine and is likely to provide Kiev with more weapons as the conflict drags on.

Truss is expected to visit Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky as one of her first overseas trips as prime minister.

The risk of tensions between China and Taiwan boiling over will also feature heavily in the new prime minister’s foreign policy concerns.

Truss has labeled the “increasingly assertive” and “authoritarian” administration of President Xi Jinping as a “very deep security concern.”

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