Meet Liz Truss: The UK's next Prime Minister
Liz Truss has won the vote against Rishi Sunak to be leader of the Tory Party
Last updated 5th Sep 2022
Liz Truss will be the UK's next Prime Minister after beating Rishi Sunak in the vote to become the leader of the Conservatives.
Ms Truss was announced as the new leader in an event in London this lunchtime, replacing Boris Johnson who announced he was stepping down in July.
Liz Truss won with 81,326 votes from the Tory membership, to Rishi Sunak’s 60,399.
As the Conservative Party have the most seats in the House of Commons, its leader automatically becomes Prime Minister.
In her victory speech, Liz Truss said: “Thank you for putting your faith in me to lead our great Conservative Party, the greatest political party on earth.
She also promised action on energy prices and the cost of living crisis: “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.”
The Queen will invite the new leader to form a government
Now the leadership contest has been decided, Liz Truss will go to Scotland to be appointed Prime Minister by the Queen.
It's a break from tradition as these meetings usually take place at Buckingham Palace.
Tomorrow (6th September) the Queen will receive Boris Johnson at Balmoral where he will formally tender his resignation.
This will be followed by an audience with the new Tory leader, who will be invited to form a government.
Meet Liz Truss
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.
When is the next general election?
The longest time a government can be in place is five years, which means the latest date for a UK general election would be Tuesday 24 January 2025 (allowing 25 days for a vote).
However, a government can decide to call an election earlier than that at the request of the Prime Minister, which is what happened on the last two occasions with both Theresa May and Boris Johnson calling earlier elections.
The race to be Prime Minister
Initially, eleven MPs said they would run for Prime Minister with eight making it to the ballot papers for Tory MPs to vote on.
After a series of rounds of voting the competition was narrowed down to two - Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
They have spent the Summer campaigning, with the final vote being decided on by members of the Conservative Party.
Here's who was in the race to be the next Prime Minister
Liz Truss - Winner
The Foreign Secretary has made little secret of her leadership ambitions, with a series of high-profile interventions and photo opportunities in which she appeared to be channelling late PM Margaret Thatcher.
Her hard line on Ukraine, insisting Russian forces must be driven from the country, and threats to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU, play well with sections of the party.
Away from politics, Ms Truss's flair for social media has seen her offer an insight into life outside of Westminster by updating her Instagram account with pictures of her relaxing at the beach, or behind the scenes at official events, though her passions combined to bizarre effect in 2014 when her improbably enthusiastic speech about opening pork markets in Beijing went viral.
Rishi Sunak - Defeated in the final two
The former Chancellor's rise from relative obscurity to household name came as he turned on the spending taps to protect jobs through the furlough scheme when the coronavirus pandemic struck.
But his stock took a tumble more recently following disclosures that his wife had non-dom status for tax purposes, and that he was too slow to respond to the cost-of-living crisis
Penny Mordaunt - Eliminated
Ms Mordaunt made waves in 2019 as the UK's first female defence secretary before being fired by Mr Johnson shortly after becoming PM.
Ms Mordaunt has many strings to her bow - she is a Royal Navy reservist, the current trade minister and a former reality television contestant, having appeared on the Tom Daley-fronted diving show Splash.
She played a prominent role in the Leave campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and has previously reportedly enjoyed the backing of Dame Andrea Leadsom among others.
Kemi Badenoch - Eliminated
Former equalities minister and MP for Saffron Walden Kemi Badenoch threw her hat into the ring with a plan for a smaller state and a government "focused on the essentials".
Ms Badenoch said she will deliver tax cuts "to boost growth and productivity and accompanied by tight spending discipline". Ms Badenoch may be considered an outsider for the leadership given the Tory grandees already in the running, but her profile was boosted by an endorsement from Michael Gove on Sunday.
Tom Tugendhat - Eliminated
Eliminated. The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat became the first contender to officially throw his hat in the ring, saying he was putting together a "broad coalition" offering a "clean start".
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the former soldier said: "I have served before – in the military, and now in Parliament. Now I hope to answer the call once again as prime minister."
Suella Braverman - Eliminated
Attorney General Suella Braverman was one of the first to openly say that she would stand in a leadership contest as she called for the Prime Minister to quit.
Jeremy Hunt - Eliminated
Failed to secure enough MP votes in the first round.
The former foreign secretary and ex-health secretary has been a persistent backbench critic of Mr Johnson and had called on the Prime Minister to quit.
Mr Hunt is making a fresh bid for the leadership, having been runner-up to Mr Johnson in 2019.
Nadhim Zahawi - Eliminated
Failed to secure enough MP votes in the first round.
The former education secretary is regarded by some as a "safe pair of hands" if other candidates prove too divisive
Iraqi-born Mr Zahawi was a successful businessman and came to wider prominence as vaccines minister during the pandemic where he was credited with playing a key part in the successful rollout of the jab.
Sajid Javid - Withdrawn
Sajid Javid pulled out of the race to succeed Boris Johnson as Tory leader moments before the official nominations were revealed. In a statement, the former health secretary said: "Serving in Government is a true privilege. It has been just seven days since I took the difficult decision to resign from the most important job I have ever had, as health secretary during a pandemic.
"Since then, I have set out the values and policies I think are right for the future of our great country. I believe the party must now look outwards, not inwards, if we are to win again.
"There is an abundance of both ideas and talent in our party. One of the candidates will be given the honour of becoming Prime Minister.
Rehman Chishti - Withdrawn
The newly appointed Foreign Office minister announced his bid for the top job via a Facebook post but withdrew from the race tweeting "I will not be taking my campaign any further for the leadership of our party as I have not been able to secure the necessary parliamentary backing".
Grant Shapps - Withdrawn from contest
The Transport Secretary had put himself forward as a leadership candidate, but withdrew from the contest after it was announced that candidates would need 20 MPs to back their nomination.
In a tweet, he said he was now supporting former chancellor Rishi Sunak: "Amongst a field of brilliant candidates, I've spoken to Rishi Sunak who I believe has the competence and experience to lead this country."
Steve Baker - Not running
Prominent Brexiteer and former minister Steve Baker, a senior Tory backbencher had said he was considering running for the position, but eventually dropped out of the leadership race and announced he will support Suella Braverman.
Ben Wallace - Not running
The Defence Secretary was an early favourite for the leadership but ruled himself out on Saturday.