Liz Truss promises help with energy bills in first speech as Prime Minister
The UK's new Prime Minister has arrived back at Downing Street, after an audience with the Queen
New Prime Minister Liz Truss said the UK would "ride out the storm" as she prepared a multibillion-pound package to help Britons cope with soaring energy costs.
In her first speech in the role, she acknowledged the economic headwinds facing the country but promised action this week to help with energy bills.
Speaking in Downing Street, she said: "I'm confident that together we can ride out the storm, we can rebuild our economy and we can become the modern brilliant Britain that I know we can be.
"This is our vital mission to ensure opportunity and prosperity for all people and future generations. I'm determined to deliver."
Ms Truss became Prime Minister in Balmoral after an audience with the Queen, who had earlier received Boris Johnson's resignation.
While Mr Johnson had delivered his farewell speech in sunshine, Ms Truss had to dodge torrential showers in Westminster for her address from a podium outside the black door of No 10.
Liz Truss Downing Street
Liz Truss has been an MP for South West Norfolk since 2010. She was born in Oxford but her family moved to Paisley and then to Leeds. She was an activist for the Liberal Democrats while studying at Oxford but switched to the Conservatives in 1996.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak
After a number of elimination rounds of voting by Conservative MPs Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak emerged as the two names going through to the ballot of Conservative Party members - Mr Sunak comfortably won the ballot of MPs.
Liz Truss and Brexit
Liz Truss famously reversed her position on Brexit. During the 2016 referendum, she spoke passionately in favour of Remain but became an advocate of the decision to leave the EU saying in 2022 that decision to back remain was "wrong."
Liz Truss Justice Secretary
Among her five cabinet posts, Liz Truss was Justice Secretary 2014-16 and the first woman in 1000 years to become Lord Chancellor. Since September 2021 Ms Truss has been Foreign Secretary in Boris Johnson's government.
Liz Truss hustings
The six week Conservative leadership contest saw Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak appear at hustings events across the UK, with the event in Perth the only visit in Scotland.
Liz Truss Moscow
A fortnight before Vladimir Putin's Russia invaded Ukraine, Liz Truss, as Foreign Secretary, took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall in Moscow.
Liz Truss leader
Liz Truss becomes the third woman to hold the post of Prime Minister following Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
Liz Truss Treasury
During the Theresa May era Liz Truss served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury - the number two to Chancellor Philip Hammond.
She vowed to create an "aspiration nation", promising to tackle the issues that have been holding Britain back for years by building "roads, homes and broadband faster".
In an echo of Winston Churchill, she promised "action this day" to deliver her plans to transform the country.
But in an acknowledgement of the immediate problem facing households across the country, she said: "I will take action this week to deal with energy bills and to secure our future energy supply."
A Government source confirmed a report in The Times that the energy freeze will be around the £2,500 mark, although an insider in the Truss camp said "nothing is finalised yet".
The plan is based on the current £1,971 energy price cap plus the £400 universal handout announced under Mr Johnson's government.
Help is also expected for business customers struggling with soaring bills which are not covered by the existing energy price cap in England, Scotland and Wales.
As well as dealing with the energy crisis, Ms Truss said her early priorities included "a bold plan to grow the economy through tax cuts and reform" and "get Britain working again".
She also promised to "put our health service on a firm footing" so "people can get doctor's appointments and the NHS services they need".
After the downpour which preceded her speech, Ms Truss said: "We shouldn't be daunted by the challenges we face.
"As strong as the storm may be, I know that the British people are stronger.
"Our country was built by people who get things done. We have huge reserves of talent, of energy and determination".
She paid tribute to her predecessor, saying that "Boris Johnson delivered Brexit, the Covid vaccine and stood up to Russian aggression".
"History will see him as a hugely consequential prime minister."
In his own address before leaving Downing Street for the final time as prime minister, Mr Johnson called for the Tory party to unite behind his successor, but he could not conceal his bitterness at the way he was ousted.
He suggested he would now slip into political obscurity, although a reference to Roman statesman Cincinnatus fuelled speculation he could consider a comeback.
Mr Johnson said "I will be offering this government nothing but my most fervent support", calling for Tories to back the new leader at a "tough time for the economy".
Watched by wife Carrie Johnson, he added that if the couple's dog Dilyn and Larry the No 10 cat can "put behind them their occasional difficulties", then "so can the Conservative Party".
But in a sign of lingering resentment at the manner in which he was forced out, Mr Johnson said that "the baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race. They changed the rules halfway through but never mind that now".
He said his career was now like a booster rocket "that has fulfilled its function and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific".
Mr Johnson declared "like Cincinnatus, I am returning to my plough" - before entering No 10, an ambitious Mr Johnson had frequently said he would become prime minister if he was "called from my plough" like the Roman statement who heeded the call to serve his people.
US President Joe Biden offered his congratulations to the new Prime Minister, saying he looked forward to "deepening the special relationship between our countries and working in close cooperation on global challenges, including continued support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression".
But the transatlantic relationship could be strained if Ms Truss pushes ahead with the plan to override parts of Northern Ireland's Brexit deal - Mr Biden is proud of his Irish roots and takes a keen interest in the issue.
Hear the latest news on Downtown on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.