Liz Truss becomes the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, succeeding Boris Johnson. The members of the ruling Conservative Party elected the previous foreign minister as their new leader with more than 81,000 votes. Truss is also moving into Downing Street, the seat of government.
The 47-year-old prevailed in the internal election campaign against former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, who received around 60,000 votes, as the head of the responsible parliamentary group committee, Graham Brady, announced in London on Monday. Queen Elizabeth II will appoint Truss as Prime Minister this Tuesday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. This will make Truss the third woman to lead the British government after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
On Tuesday, Johnson will address the public one last time as prime minister before he is dismissed from office by the Queen in Scotland. The 58-year-old is leaving after numerous scandals under pressure from his cabinet and parliamentary group. The "Partygate" affair about banned lockdown celebrations in Johnson's official residence had shaken him. Several other scandals and his handling of them then brought the prime minister down. However, a possible comeback is not ruled out. The politician, who will initially remain a simple MP, still has a strong support base in the party.
The 175,000 party members have been able to vote by post or online in the past few weeks. Sunak and Truss had previously prevailed in several rounds of voting by the Conservative MPs.
Among other things, Truss scored with tax policy
Truss is assigned to the right wing of the party. Once a staunch opponent of Brexit, she has long been emphasizing the benefits of leaving the EU. In the inner-party election campaign, the 47-year-old was particularly convincing with her plan to immediately lower taxes despite enormously high inflation. She also scored points with the party base - which is significantly older, more male and wealthier than the average British population - with a confrontational line towards the EU and populist statements about refugees, left-wingers, environmental activists and social minorities.
High energy prices are the biggest challenge for the designated head of government. Truss is expected to unveil its plans to combat rising electricity and gas costs within a few days. However, it is questionable whether she will be able to unite the Conservative Party after a tough election campaign - Sunak had more supporters in the parliamentary group. In foreign policy, it is feared that Truss will further escalate the dispute with the EU over Brexit rules for Northern Ireland.
