Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Monday became the new British Prime Minister (PM) and leader of the Conservative Party after narrowly defeating former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak. With the win Truss, 47, will be the third female PM after Margaret Thatcher, who was the leader from 1979 to 1990, and Theresa May, who was in power between 2016 and 2019.
In a closely fought contest, Truss won 57% of Conservative Party member votes while Sunak secured 43%. While the margin of victory was ultimately comfortable for Truss, her success was much narrower than what previous polls suggested. A poll by YouGov earlier this month indicated that Truss would win 66% of the votes.
LIVE: Next Conservative Party Leader Announced https://t.co/J0Uwce4Mkt
— Conservatives (@Conservatives) September 5, 2022
According to Reuters, Truss’ margin of victory is the lowest for any Conservative leader among party members this century.
In a televised event in London, the Conservative Party announced that Truss will be the next PM and leader of the party. A party member said Truss will build on her predecessor Boris Johnson’s legacy and “continue to deliver prosperity, opportunity, and security” to the British people.
I am honoured to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party.
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) September 5, 2022
Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country.
I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential. pic.twitter.com/xCGGTJzjqb
Truss said she was grateful for the win and paid tribute to her challenger Sunak. She mentioned that the campaign was a “hard fought victory” and demonstrated “the length and breadth of talent” within the Conservative Party.
“During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a conservative and I will govern as a conservative,” she asserted. Truss said she would “deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy.” The new PM also claimed that she would deal with the energy crisis in the UK and pay particular attention to rising energy bills, claiming that she would focus on “dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply.”
Interesting because there was no necessity to say 2024 rather than "the next election" but seems designed to dampen talk of a poll next spring/autumn.
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) September 5, 2022
The UK is currently in the throes of a recession and facing double-digit inflation resulting from rising energy prices due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Last month, the UK’s energy regulator raised its main cap on consumer energy bills from $2284 to $4,112. Gas prices across the country have skyrocketed due to a rise in demand owing to a significant reduction in Russian energy imports. Forecasts suggest that the cap could rise to over $6000 by mid-2023.
Indicating that she did not plan to call for new parliamentary elections any time soon, Truss said that together with Conservative Party members, she would deliver a “great victory” for the party in 2024. The announcement came in response to Labour Party leader Keir Starmer calling for early elections.
Congratulations to @trussliz on her decisive win. I know she has the right plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, unite our party and continue the great work of uniting and levelling up our country. Now is the time for all Conservatives to get behind her 100 per cent.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 5, 2022
She also thanked outgoing PM Boris Johnson for his services. “Boris, you got Brexit done, you crushed Jeremy Corbyn [in the 2019 elections] and you stood up to Vladimir Putin,” Truss declared, adding, “You were admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.”
Congratulating Truss on her victory, Johnson said the new PM “has the right plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, unite our party, and continue the great work of uniting and levelling up our country.” He tweeted, “Now is the time for all Conservatives to get behind her 100 per cent.”
Thank you to everyone who voted for me in this campaign.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) September 5, 2022
I’ve said throughout that the Conservatives are one family.
It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times.
Johnson resigned in July following several scandals that tarnished his leadership. One of these was the ‘Partygate’ scandal, which brought to light a series of parties attended by British ministers as the country’s citizens struggled with COVID-19 restrictions. An investigation into the events concluded that Johnson’s government was guilty of holding multiple parties when the country was under COVID-19 lockdown. Johnson faced further pressure after the Pincher scandal, in which a number of Cabinet members and Tory MPs resigned after Johnson admitted in an interview that he regretted appointing Conservative MP Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip in February despite being aware of sexual misconduct allegations against him from as far back as 2019.
Following his resignation, the Conservative party announced a new leadership election. Several voting rounds were held between July and August, with Truss and Sunak emerging as the top two candidates. The final ballot was held last week.
Congratulations @trussliz for being chosen to be the next PM of the UK. Confident that under your leadership, the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will be further strengthened. Wish you the very best for your new role and responsibilities.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 5, 2022
Sunak took to Twitter to thank everyone who voted for him and congratulate Truss. “I’ve said throughout that the Conservatives are one family,” he said, calling on the British people to “unite behind the new PM […] as she steers the country through difficult times.”
After the results were announced, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Culture Secretary Nadine Dories announced their resignations. Patel said it was the “honour of her life” to have served as home secretary and noted in a letter addressed to outgoing PM Johnson that the decision was her choice. Insisting that she would continue her services from the backbenches of the party, Patel congratulated Truss on her victory and vowed to support the new PM.
Truss was also congratulated by several world leaders, including Indian PM Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, French President Emmanuel Macron, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.