UK: Liz Truss becomes new UK prime minister

Tuesday, 6 September 2022 (17:50 IST)
Liz Truss is the United Kingdom's Prime Minister after traveling to meet Queen Elizabeth at her Scottish residence Balmoral before appointing a new cabinet.

Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson had already handed over his resignation to the UK monarch.

What are Truss' plans for when she takes office?

The Truss government will be expected to deal with an energy crisis and soaring inflation, driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit.

UK inflation has risen above 10% for the first time in four decades, and the Bank of England forecasts it will reach 13.3% in October. The bank said that Britain could enter recession by the end of the year.

Truss says that her priority is cutting taxes and reducing regulations to fuel growth.

Household bills are due to jump by 80% in October — triple the cost of a year ago.

During her leadership campaign, Truss promised help for people struggling to pay their bills, but did not give further details.

In a speech on Monday, Truss promised to help Britain weather the economic crisis.

Truss said she would continue British support to Ukraine, and promised to increase British defense spending to just over 2-3% of GDP. She has said that her first phone call with a world leader will be with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Truss defeated rival Rishi Sunak in a vote of Conservative Party members on Monday.

Truss' Cabinet

Current Secretary of State for Business Kwasi Kwarteng is likely to be named Chancellor of the Exchequer — the UK's finance minister — under Truss.

After the resignation of Home Secretary Priti Patel on Monday, attorney general Suella Braverman is expected to take on the interior affairs brief.

Meanwhile, James Cleverly is touted to take over from Truss as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

If correct, those appointments would mean that — for the first time in UK history — there would be no white males in any of Britain's four "Great Offices of State."

Johnson bids farewell

Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his final Downing Street speech on Tuesday before heading to Scotland.

Johnson said that his successor would do "everything" to get people through the crisis.

He said "it's time for politics to be over," in an apparent reference to the election for leadership of his party. He urged Conservatives to "get behind Liz Truss." He vowed that he would support Truss "every step of the way."

Johnson said that Britain would "come out stronger" from economic downturn.

"This is a tough time for the economy," he said.

"This is a tough time for families up and down the country. We can and we will get through it, we will come out stronger the other side."

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