Liz Truss replaced the controversial Boris Johnson as leader of the British Conservative Party on Monday and will become the new prime minister, leading a United Kingdom mired in a serious crisis due to the cost of living.
Two months after Johnson’s resignation, plagued by multiple scandals, the government party announced that its more than 172,000 members had elected the hitherto foreign minister to lead the party and take charge of the country.
The 47-year-old diplomat won 81,326 votes to 60,399 against former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, a 42-year-old former banker billionaire grandson of Indian immigrants.
Truss will become the country’s third prime minister, after fellow conservatives Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and Theresa May (2016-2019).
“It’s an honor,” said a visibly moved Truss in a speech in which she paid tribute to Johnson for his work at the head of the country since 2019, bringing Brexit to fruition, overcoming the pandemic and standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.
The race for the leadership began in July, when the controversial Johnson was pushed by his own party to resign.
Voting for members by mail and online closed on Friday, after eight weeks of campaigning that Truss described as “the longest job interview in history.”
The result, however, is not necessarily representative of the wishes of the 67 million Britons.
In a YouGov poll in late August, 52% of respondents thought Truss would make a “bad” or “terrible” prime minister. 43% stated that they do not trust it “at all” when it comes to responding to the problem of the growing cost of living, which has dominated the news for weeks.
Possible price freeze
The country is feeling the effects of inflation of 10%, its highest level in 40 years, fueled by a spike in energy prices induced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the use of gas as a political weapon.
An inflation that during the summer gave rise to numerous strikes and promises an autumn marked by protests.
Household energy bills will rise 80% from October, and millions of families face a painful dilemma between eating and heating their homes this winter.
“I will deal with the energy crisis and with the citizens’ bills, but also with the long-term problems that we have in the energy supply,” Truss promised in a brief speech on Monday after his victory was announced.
According to various British media, he is contemplating a freeze on energy prices.
“I will present a bold plan to reduce taxes and grow our economy,” he also assured, as he had promised during the campaign.
Indeed, on Sunday he had announced that “in a month” he would announce that complete tax reduction plan “to kick-start the British economy”, which is on the verge of recession.
transfer of power
The change of prime minister will not take place, however, until Tuesday, when Johnson will deliver his farewell speech in Downing Street.
He will then travel to Balmoral, Elizabeth II’s summer residence in Scotland, 800 km north of London, to present his formal resignation to the queen, who will then officially name Truss as her successor.
For the first time in her 70-year reign, Elizabeth II, 96, will not travel to London for this ceremony, due to her increasing mobility problems.
The new head of government will then return to the capital, to deliver her first speech before the famous black door of number 10 Downing Street, form a government and debate in Parliament with the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, on Wednesday.
