Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is the new leader of the Conservative Party after defeating Rishi Sunak with 57% of the vote.
Her victory means she will succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister tomorrow after being formally appointed by the Queen at Balmoral.
Johnson announced his resignation in July following mounting scandals including Partygate and his handling of Chris Pincher’s sexual misconduct allegations.
Truss faced off against former Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the final round of the contest, in which Tory Party members cast ballots for their next leader.
The two were selected via rounds of voting among Conservative MPs, which saw the contenders gradually eliminated until only two remained.
Truss was widely perceived as the favourite to win the members’ ballot, having held commanding leads over Sunak in opinion polls.
Often described as the choice of the right wing of the party, one of her key campaign promises was a series of tax cuts including a reversal of the National Insurance hike from April.
Truss received high profile endorsements in the contest from cabinet ministers including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries and Ben Wallace.
She is set to be the fourth Conservative prime minister since the party’s return to power in 2010, following David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
Truss will also be the UK’s third female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
The new prime minister will immediately face the mounting cost-of-living crisis as one of the key early issues of their premiership.
Truss is expected to be formally instated by the Queen tomorrow at Balmoral Castle in Scotland instead of Buckingham Palace – where prime ministerial handovers usually take place.
Full results:
Liz Truss – 81,326
Rishi Sunak – 60,399
Featured image: Number 10 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
