Liz Truss will become Britain’s next prime minister after winning the Conservative Party leadership election to replace Boris Johnson.
Summary
Liz Truss will become Britain’s next prime minister after winning the Conservative Party leadership election to replace Boris Johnson.
- Mass government resignations in response to a series of scandals forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation in July.
- The United Kingdom’s next prime minister will take over a country suffering a 10 percent annual inflation rate and soaring energy costs expected to increase by 80 percent in October.
- Truss, the U.K. Foreign Secretary, won on a platform of cutting taxes and the size of the state and spoke of her admiration for Margaret Thatcher.
- Approximately 170,000 Conservative Party members were eligible to vote on Britain’s fourth Conservative prime minister in six years.
- Truss won 57% of Conservative Party members’ votes against former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s 43%.
- Liz Truss will become Britain’s third female prime minister. She supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum but has since become popular with Brexiteers with her tough stance towards the European Union
- CNN wrote Truss is “a political chameleon who has gone from a radical who called for the abolition of the monarchy to a flag-bearer of the Euroskeptic right wing of the Conservative Party… to say that Truss has been on a political journey would be an understatement.”
- The Guardian outlined Truss’s short political honeymoon. After she takes office Tuesday, she will face Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, has pledged to unveil plans to support households suffering from soaring energy prices within a week, and is expected to outline an emergency budget to fight Britain’s economic crisis within the month.
- The New York Times recalled a viral 2014 speech from Truss’s time as environment secretary. She observed that the United Kingdom imported two-thirds of its cheese and shouted, “That is a disgrace!”
- The Washington Examiner noted Truss worked closely with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in her time as Foreign Secretary on sanctions punishing Russia for invading Ukraine and advocates working with the United States to stand up to China.
- The Wall Street Journal outlined the economic challenge Truss faces when she takes over on Tuesday. “Crippling increases in energy prices, spurred by the war in Ukraine, are feeding the highest inflation in decades and threaten to tilt the economy into a long-lasting recession.”
- The Daily Mail covered Truss’ acceptance speech. She paid tribute to Boris Johnson, pledged to “govern as a conservative” and voted to “deliver” on the country’s energy crisis, cut taxes, and win the next election in 2024.
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© Dominic Moore, 2022
