Liz Truss Is New UK PM

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Monday defeated Indian origin Rishi Sunak to become the successor of Boris Johnson.

Trust received 81,326 votes compared to Sunak’s share of 60,399 votes in the elections for the Conservative Party leadership.

Truss will meet the Queen for an invitation to form her government, as per the UK media.

After the announcement of the results, Truss thanked Sunak and other Tory leadership candidates in the race. She called the campaign “hard-fought”, adding that it showed “the depth and breadth of talent” in the party.

She thanked outgoing PM Johnson for Brexit and standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Ukraine war, and rolling out the Covid vaccination.

“I am honoured to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party. Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country. I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential,” she tweeted.

With this victory, Truss has become the UK’s third female prime minister after Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher.

Truss, 47, has promised swift action to tackle the rising cost of living in Britain. The Tory leader said that she will come up with a plan to deal with the rising energy costs, and secure future fuel supplies within a week.

As per local media reports, she spent the weekend discussing with her team to finalise members of her Cabinet and details of her plans to steer Britain through the energy crisis this winter.

Sunak (42), a member of the ethnic Hindu minority in the UK, rose through the rank in the Conservative Party to become chancellor in early 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the globe. He entered the UK Parliament in 2015. His grandmother migrated to Britain more than 60 years ago from East Africa.