Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has been named leader of the governing Conservative Party, taking power as Britain’s next prime minister at a time when the country faces a cost-of-living crisis, industrial unrest and a recession.
After weeks of an often bad-tempered and divisive party leadership contest that pitted Truss against Rishi Sunak, a former finance minister, Monday’s announcement triggered the beginning of a handover from Boris Johnson.
Johnson was forced to announce his resignation in July after months of scandal and he will travel to Scotland to meet Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday to officially tender his resignation.
His successor will follow him and be asked to form a government.
In a short victory speech at the announcement in a central London convention hall, Truss said it was an “honour” to be elected after undergoing “one of the longest job interviews in history”.
Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from London, said Truss won not as resoundingly as the opinion polls might have earlier suggested.
“She picked up 57 percent of eligible votes among Conservative Party members. Rishi Sunak, former chancellor of the exchequer, got 42 percent,” he said.
“She promised that she campaigned as a Conservative and she will govern as a Conservative, she promised to cut taxes, to grow the economy, she promised to deal with the energy crisis,” he added.
