London (AFP) – Liz Truss The party announced on Monday that it has been elected as the new leader of the Conservative Party, and will take over as Britain’s new prime minister on Tuesday to steer the country through an acute cost-of-living crisis.
The 47-year-old Truss, who is currently the foreign secretary, beat former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak after a leadership contest in which only about 170,000 paid Conservative Party members were allowed to vote. Truss received 81,326 votes, compared to the Sunak’s 60,399.
It faces immediate pressure to make good on its promises to tackle the cost of living crisis The UK is hampered and the economy is heading into a prolonged recession.
Queen Elizabeth II is due to formally appoint Truss as Britain’s prime minister on Tuesday. The ceremony will take place at the Queen’s Estate in Balmoral, ScotlandWhere the Queen spends the summer, rather than Buckingham Palace in London.
The two-month leadership contest has left Britain in a power vacuum at a time of growing discontent amid soaring energy and food costs. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not made any major political decisions since he announced his resignation On July 7, officials insisted that measures to address the energy cost crisis be delayed until his successor was in power.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of workers are on strike to demand better wages to keep up with relentlessly rising costs. inflation above 10% For the first time since the 1980s, the Bank of England forecast it would reach a 42-year high of 13.3% in October. That’s largely driven by higher energy bills, which will jump 80% for the average household starting next month.
I will present a bold plan to lower taxes and grow our economy. “I’m going to tackle the energy crisis, I’m going to deal with people’s energy bills, but I’m also going to deal with the long-term issues we have on energy supply,” Truss told party members after her election.
“I know our beliefs resonate with the British people: our belief in freedom and control over your life, low taxes and personal responsibility,” she added. “I know that is why people voted for us in such numbers in 2019, and as the leader of your party, it is my intent to deliver what we have promised to these voters throughout our great country.”
Truss won the support of many conservatives with her enthusiasm for rolling back state intervention and tax cuts. She and rival Sunak have spoken of their admiration for Margaret Thatcher, who was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, and her free-market economy and small government.
But it is not clear how the right-wing brand of Conservativeism, which has played well with party members – who represent well under 1% of the UK’s adult population – will go down with the wider British public, especially those most in need of government. Comfort to carry necessities such as heating their homes this winter.
Truss promised to act “immediately” to address the high energy bills, but declined to give any details so far.
Tory members wanted that tax cut message. “I think the country is less than that,” said Bronwyn Maddox, director of the Chatham House think-tank in London.
“Right now, I’m very concerned, and many of them are very, very scared to go into a year where all they can see are costs going up,” Maddox added. “Until you get an answer to that, she has no claim to the country’s popularity, I think.”
While the economy will almost certainly dominate the new prime minister’s first few months in office, Truss will also have to lead the UK on the international stage in the face of the Russian war in Ukraine.an increasingly assertive China and ongoing tensions with the European Union in the wake of Brexit – particularly in Northern Ireland.
Australia, New Zealand and Japan congratulated Truss early Tuesday and looked to strengthen their relationship with the United Kingdom under its government. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said: “She has been a staunch supporter of the UK’s inclination towards the Indo-Pacific and has played a central role in promoting our historic free trade agreement.”
Truss will be the UK’s fourth Conservative Prime Minister in six years, entering Downing Street after Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron.
Johnson was forced to resign after a series of moral scandals culminated in July, when dozens of ministers and lower-level officials resigned in protest over his handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by a prominent member of his cabinet.
Both Truss and Sunak were key players in Johnson’s government, although Sunak resigned in the final days of Johnson’s tenure in office.
Stephen Fielding, a professor of political history at the University of Nottingham, said Truss’s government may not get along with many because it reminds voters too much of Johnson’s misdeeds.
“She was essentially elected to be Boris Johnson 2.0 by members of the Conservative Party – she has made it clear that she is a loyal supporter of Boris Johnson,” he said. “I think she will find it very difficult to completely separate herself from Johnson’s shadow.”
Truss and Snack were the last two candidates to be relegated from an initial field of 11 leadership candidates.
Under Britain’s parliamentary system of government, the centre-right Conservative Party was allowed to hold internal elections to choose a new party leader and prime minister without going to the wider electorate. A new general election is not required until December 2024.
“Infuriatingly humble analyst. Bacon maven. Proud food specialist. Certified reader. Avid writer. Zombie advocate. Incurable problem solver.”