Liz Truss wins Conservative Party leadership election
Liz Truss has won the Conservative Party leadership election and will become the UK’s fourth Prime Minister in six years.
She is expected to see the Queen at Balmoral tomorrow when she will officially take office and begin dealing with a catalogue of challenges including the energy crisis, inflation and the cost of living, Ukraine, and the ongoing impact of Brexit.
It ends a two-month period of campaigning since Boris Johnson’s resignation which has seen the Government largely step aside from taking decisions.
Truss came second to former Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the fifth and final ballot of Conservative MPs, 113-137, but was a clear favourite of the membership securing 57% support from nearly 142,000 votes.
She has positioned herself as a low tax, pro-growth politician, and has been at best lukewarm on levelling-up or redistributive policies. But she has not yet been clear how she will seek to tackle the urgent economic challenges that threaten to swamp the finances of businesses and families alike in the coming months.
In her acceptance speech, Truss said: “”During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a Conservative and I’m going to govern as a Conservative. We need to show that we will deliver over the next two years.
“I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long term issues we have on energy supply.”
She will appoint her Cabinet shortly. Kwasi Kwarteng to expected to be named as the fifth Chancellor in 38 months – a rate of change at Number 11 not seen for 100 years – with Jacob Rees-Mogg reported to be lined up as Business Secretary and Simon Clarke as Levelling-Up Minister.
Her rival for the leadership, Sunak, is not expected to take a Cabinet position while Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Oliver Dowden, Robert Jenrick are also expected to be left out.
Truss has been MP for South West Norfolk since 2010, having been unsuccessful standing in the West Yorkshire seats of Hemsworth in 2001 and Calder Valley in 2005.
She has held six roles in her eight years in Cabinet – at Environment, Justice, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, International Trade, Women and Equalities, and Foreign Secretary.
Truss, 47, is the first Prime Minister to be born in the 1970s, although she is three years older than Tony Blair and David Cameron were when they took office.
But unlike Blair and Cameron, the last two Prime Ministers to enter office following a general election victory, Truss must plot a way forward by leading a party that has already been in power for 12 years.
West Midlands business leaders have been reacting to the news.
Shropshire Chamber of Commerce has urged new Prime Minister Liz Truss to take “immediate steps” to support the economy.
Speaking after the result of the Tory leadership election was announced, chief executive Richard Sheehan said: “The last few months have been difficult for everyone, but time is running out. Urgent action is needed to deal with the costs’ crisis.
“The British Chambers of Commerce believes the country has already entered into a recession, and expects inflation to hit 14% in the months ahead.
“Businesses across Shropshire don’t have an energy price cap, and are telling us about completely unsustainable rises in their energy bills. They are also finding it difficult to secure new fixed term contracts to protect them against further price hikes.”
Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “There has been a hiatus in Government while this leadership race has taken place at a time when businesses and individuals are facing a major crisis of rising costs that simply cannot be sustained.
“We wish Liz Truss every success as the new Prime Minister and she will have to hit the ground running if the country is to get to grips with the issues around energy costs and inflation that are putting huge strain on the economy.
“There is very little time to waste and it’s vitally important that the economy gets the support it needs to help overcome this crisis.
