Liz Truss announced as UK’s next Prime Minister

Liz Truss does not have a traditional Tory background yet, after many U-turns, has gone on to become Britain’s third female PM.

Liz Truss has been announced as the new Conservative party leader and the UK’s third female prime minister.

Ms Truss netted 81,326 votes, compared to her rival Rishi Sunak who landed 60,399.

“It’s an honour to be elected,” she said after the announcement, adding, “it was the longest job interview in the country.”

Ms Truss, not known for her oratory skills, added: “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.

“And I will deliver the National Health Service … We will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024.”

Liz Truss, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, is announced as the next Prime Minister at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre. Picture: Getty Images.

The winner of the leadership contest convinced the 180,000 party faithful she is the woman for the top job over former chancellor Mr Sunak and, as 15th prime minister under the Queen, will on Tuesday take the keys to No 10 Downing Street where she will deliver her mission and reassure people help is coming with the cost of living.

Congratulating her on winning 57 per cent of the vote, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted: “I look forward to a continued constructive relationship and friendship between our nations and people.”

Boris Johnson congratulated her “decisive win,” tweeting: “I know she has the right plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, unite our party and continue the great work of uniting and levelling up our country. Now is the time for all Conservatives to get behind her 100 per cent.”

New Conservative Party leader and Britain's new Prime Minister Liz Truss. Picture: AFP.

Johnson’s wife Carrie congratulated the Prime Minister-to-be with a photograph of her family entering number 10 Downing Street for the last time.

In an Instagram post, she shared a photo of the four of them going through the famous black door.

“Going through the number 10 door together for the last time, she wrote.

“I expect Wilf and Romy won’t remember it but they’ve had an incredibly happy start their lives growing up here.

“Thank you so much to all the lovely people at Downing Street and Chequers who have been so incredibly kind to us – particularly to our children. Best of luck to Liz and her family.”

Ms Truss’s predecessor Theresa May, in office for three years from 2016, wrote: “We must now work together to address the challenges facing our country. Tackling the cost of living, delivering for those in need & managing the public finances responsibly. I look forward to supporting the government in that task.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hoped the new leader would help Kyiv “thwart” Russia.

Mr Zelenskyy said in his daily address that he was “looking forward to the start of co-operation” with Ms Truss.

“I believe that together we will be able to do more to protect our peoples and to thwart all Russian destructive efforts,” he said.

“We in Ukraine know her well - she has always been on the bright side of European politics,” Ukraine’s president said, adding that “the main thing is to preserve our unity”.

A wounded Mr Sunak thanked his supporters, writing, “I’ve said throughout that the Conservatives are one family.

“It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times.”

NEW BRITISH PM’S SHOCK U-TURNS

Ms Truss has become the country’s fourth PM in six years.

She has performed many U-turns personally as well as in her leadership campaign.

Once a teenage republican, she denounced the Monarchy as a Liberal Democrat, a move she now regrets.

“We do not believe people are born to rule,” Ms Truss said at a 1994 Liberal Democrat conference – two years before jumping ship and joining the Conservatives.

She has since insisted she regretted saying them “almost immediately”.

“I’ve got the ability to learn from mistakes I’ve made, things that I’ve done that are wrong and move on,” she has said.

Liz Truss arrives at the Queen Elizabeth II centre ahead of the event to announce the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest. Picture: AFP.

It’s not the first U-turn Ms Truss has made.

She says she rues supporting the Remain campaign in the lead-up to Brexit. In the leadership race, she switched allegiance to support the British public and presented herself as the PM to support the country’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU).

She does not have a traditional Tory background.

As a child, she joined her left wing parents at peace rallies and visited the Greenham Common peace camp as a seven-year-old.

She is on record as saying she would not dole out “handouts” to help with soaring energy bills remarks her aides have said were “misinterpreted” and she will lower the tax burden rather than hand out benefits.

The Oxford graduate and former commercial manager for gas and oil firm Shell has focused her entire leadership campaign on promising to reverse mounting living costs, slash taxes and restore the economy.

Ms Truss became foreign minister a year ago after heading a portfolio of ministerial posts including education, international trade and justice.

She began her political dream to become a politician as a teenager adhering to the centrist Liberal Democrats before switching to the right-wing Conservatives.

Her dress sense and love of social media and photo opportunities – posing in a tank in Estonia and wearing a fur hat in Moscow - have earned her comparisons to former Tory leader Margaret Thatcher aka The Iron Lady.

She has become markedly more relaxed after being criticised for her cold manner with supporters revealing her passion for karaoke and socialising.

Ms Truss spent the weekend consulting with aides to deliver her promises to reverse mounting living costs, slash taxes and restore the economy.

Leadership rival Mr Sunak’s planned increase in corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent will not be executed after the incoming Prime Minister considered his plan would stunt economic growth. Mr Sunak is now expected to be exiled to the backbench and not be offered a Cabinet job.

Despite his initial popularity, Mr Sunak lost trust with Conservative party members who saw him as a backstabber for causing the outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign.

Mr Sunak’s tax policies and performance in the Treasury were cited as unpopular by 8 per cent, while 7 per cent cited a lack of trust and 5 per cent saw him as out of touch in a YouGov poll.

Liz Truss was in a battle for the leadership with Rishi Sunak. Picture: Getty Images.

Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned from office in July amid an avalanche of resignations by party members that undermined his authority and froze the government.

Walk-outs on the blustering blond-haired leader in July, led by the finance and health secretaries Mr Sunak and Sajid Javid, were a culmination of his prevarications over a litany of scandals – coronavirus lockdown parties, the refurbishment of his official apartment and the appointment of an ally accused of sexual misconduct.

Mr Johnson will head on his last day as Prime Minister to the Queen’s Balmoral estate in Scotland after giving a farewell speech outside 10 Downing Street at 8.30am (7pm AEST).

He will officially tender his resignation to the Queen in the green-carpeted Drawing Room of her Scottish residence.

Liz Truss is the UK’s next PM. Picture: AFP.

Ms Truss will make the 1600km round trip to the Scottish Highlands on the same day to be officially asked to form a government.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed the monarch will not “kiss the hands” of the new leader at her London residence as has traditionally been the case in her 70-year rule with 14 of her previously appointed PMs, prompting fresh concerns for the 96-year-old’s health.

Her aides confirmed she will remain in Aberdeenshire until October where she is on her annual summer break.

A new photograph will be released shortly after the Queen appoints the new leader.

The new leader will give a speech outside No 10 around 4pm on Tuesday UK time (1am Wednesday AEST) before starting the process of forming the new government which means appointing new ministers and forming a cabinet.

Liz Truss is seen as the heir to Margaret Thatcher. Picture: Getty Images.

On Wednesday, before the new PM has their first tussle with the Labour leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, they will reportedly meet with their new cabinet team at 9am (6pm Wednesday AEST).

The Queen has battled health issues since last autumn.

In March, she did attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, two months later, she shunned the State Opening of Parliament, which Prince Charles hosted in her place. Despite fleeting public appearances she was not able to attend the traditional summer Palace garden parties or the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

On Saturday a kilt-wearing Prince Charles, accompanied by Camilla opened the annual Braemar Gathering, a favourite in the Queen’s calendar, instead of his mother.

The event will be live streamed online so Her Majesty can watch it from the comfort of Balmoral.

The monarch now walks with the aid of a stick, but put in an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony for her Platinum Jubilee in June.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said the Queen has mobility issues “but mentally she’s as fit as a fiddle.”

Originally published as Liz Truss announced as UK’s next Prime Minister