Liz Truss set to become Britain’s next prime minister after winning a leadership race for the governing Conservative Party on Monday, vowed to press ahead with promised tax cuts and action to tackle a deepening energy and cost of living crisis.
After weeks of divisive leadership contest, Truss, currently the foreign minister and the favourite to win, beat former finance minister Rishi Sunak in a vote of Conservative Party members, winning by 81,326 votes to 60,399.
Truss takes over as the country faces a crunch on household finances, industrial unrest, a recession and war in Europe, where Britain has been a leading backer of Ukraine.
She appeared to rule out another national election before 2024, when she promised to deliver a great victory for her party.
But in a sign of deep divisions in her party, her winning margin was much narrower than had been expected and the narrowest in any Conservative leadership election held this century. Truss also won with the support of less than 50% of members, as almost one in five did not vote.
Truss will succeed Boris Johnson, who was forced to announce his resignation in July after months of scandals saw support for his administration drain away and ministers quit to force him out.
Johnson will travel to Scotland to meet Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday to officially tender his resignation. Truss will follow him and be asked to form a government by the monarch.
Long the front-runner to replace him, Truss will become the Conservatives’ fourth prime minister since a 2015 election.
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