Liz Truss set to replace Boris Johnson at Downing St

The result of the run-off between Foreign Secretary and former chancellor Rishi Sunak will be announced on Monday night.

Liz Truss at the final leadership hustings at Wembley last week. Picture: Getty Images

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is widely expected to be named the winner of the Tory leadership race late on Monday and succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.

Online and postal polls of Tory members closed late on Friday after a two-month contest in which the two final contenders toured the country taking part in hustings and televised debates.

The result of the run-off between Ms Truss and former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak will be announced at 12.30pm on Monday (9.30pm AEST), before Mr Johnson formally tenders his resignation to the Queen the next day.

Conservative party chairman Andrew Stephenson thanked both candidates for taking part in the often “gruelling schedule in good spirits”. “I know our party is ready to unite around a new leader and tackle the challenges we face as a country ahead,” he said as the ballot closed.

Voting by the estimated 200,000 Conservative party members began in early August, a month after Mr Johnson announced his resignation following a slew of scandals and mass cabinet resignations.

Ms Truss, 47, has consistently enjoyed overwhelming support over Mr Sunak in polling of members. She has campaigned to slash taxes and prioritise economic growth above all else, just as Britain faces decades-high inflation and is tipped to enter recession later this year.

“I have a bold plan that will grow our economy and deliver higher wages, more security for families and world-class public services,” Ms Truss said in a statement, as the curtain came down on the often bitter race with her 42-year-old rival.

“If I am elected prime minister, I will never let anyone talk us down and I will do everything in my power to make sure our great nation succeeds,” she said.

Mr Sunak has assailed Ms Truss’s plans as “reckless”, warning they risk heightening inflation and eroding the country’s standing in the eyes of inter­national lenders and markets.

He has argued his experience guiding the country’s finances through the pandemic leave him best placed to lead the UK during its current economic woes.

“We face huge challenges ahead, but also huge opportunities,” Mr Sunak said on Friday.

“I know what it takes to get through challenging times. I did it as chancellor, and I will do it again as prime minister.”

Tory MPs turned on their Brexit hero Mr Johnson after months of mishandling controversies, and favoured Mr Sunak over Ms Truss as the more electable leader to take them until the next general election due by January 2025.

But the party’s rank and file have rallied to Ms Truss’s right-wing platform, even if she is a former Liberal Democrat who opposed leaving the EU in Britain’s 2016 referendum.

“She’s a better politician,” said John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, after Ms Truss stuck to a simple script over the long, hot summer of campaigning. “Sunak has demonstrated some of the qualities you might hope to see in a good minister. But Ms Truss has demonstrated the qualities that you need in a politician.”

However, whoever wins, polls of the wider electorate show the Conservatives face a growing challenge from Labour to retain their 12-year grip on power.

AFP