LONDON | Liz Truss won the race to become British prime minister to succeed Boris Johnson on Monday, with the immediate challenge of tackling the historic purchasing power crisis gripping the UK.
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Aged 47, Liz Truss will be the third woman to lead the British government, after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
Unsurprisingly, the Foreign Minister won against her former finance colleague Rishi Sunak, following a postal vote reserved for members of the Conservative Party, which was triggered by the resignation in early July of Boris Johnson, backed into the wall after repeated scandals.
She won 81,326 votes (57%) against 60,399 for her rival (43%), according to the results communicated by Graham Brady, responsible for organizing the ballot.
“I will present a bold plan to reduce taxes and grow our economy,” promised Liz Truss after the announcement of her victory.
“I will tackle the energy crisis by taking care of people’s energy bills, but also by taking care of the long-term difficulties of energy supply”, she added, promising a “great victory” to his party in the legislative elections scheduled for 2024.
Elected leader of the party by the members who took part in the vote, she will, under the British parliamentary system, gain power because of the majority enjoyed by the “Tories” in the House of Commons.
Remaining faithful to Boris Johnson to the end when resignations within the executive were counted by the dozens, Liz Truss will enter Downing Street in an explosive economic and social context, marked by inflation that exceeds 10% and a rise exorbitant energy bills strangling families, businesses and public services.
In this context, Liz Truss has no respite to be convincing, two years before the 2024 legislative elections where the Labor opposition – which has a clear lead in the polls – hopes to dislodge the conservatives in power since 2010.
Social growl
She will also have to deal with the shadow of Boris Johnson, who is already missing by some members of the Conservative Party – more masculine, older and white than the average Briton – and who has not ruled out a return to politics.
Boris Johnson will go on Tuesday to hand in his resignation to Elizabeth II at her summer residence in Balmoral, Scotland, a first for the 96-year-old sovereign, who has difficulty moving around and will not make the trip to London.
Liz Truss will follow to become the 15e head of government for the monarch’s 70-year reign, before returning to London to deliver her first speech in front of 10 Downing Street and form her government.
In a very right-wing campaign, sometimes to the point of seeming disconnected from the dramatic worsening of the crisis during the summer, Liz Truss, a belated convert to conservatism like Brexit, seduced by promising massive tax cuts and adopting a very harsh tone against the unions.
Yet the favorite of Conservative MPs, Rishi Sunak, a wealthy ex-banker, struggled to seduce the base of the party by advocating an economic realism far from “fairy tales”, and he was seen as a technocrat giver of lessons unable to understand household difficulties.
On Sunday, Liz Truss assured the BBC that if elected, she would act “from the first week” to help the British with their energy bills, however refusing to specify the concrete nature of the measures she intended to take.
If she is popular with the Tories, 52% of Britons believe she will be a bad or very bad prime minister, according to a recent YouGov poll. Not sure, therefore, that these vague promises will be enough to calm the social discontent that has shaken the country like never since the Thatcher years (1979-1990).
Boris Johnson calls his party to unity
Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on the Conservative Party on Monday to rally “100%” behind Liz Truss.
“Now is the time for all conservatives to support her 100%,” tweeted the leader, who must present his resignation to Elizabeth II on Tuesday, congratulating the one who will succeed him and assuring that “she has the right project for her. to tackle the cost of living crisis, unite our party and continue the great work of unifying and leveling our country”.
reactions
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday she hoped for “full respect (of) the agreements” between the UK and the EU after the election of Liz Truss by the British Conservatives to become Prime Minister.
“The EU and the UK are partners. We face many challenges together, from climate change to war in Ukraine. I hope for a constructive relationship in full respect of our agreements”, she wrote on Twitter, while Ms Truss threatened to override the post-Brexit agreement signed by London with Brussels on Northern Ireland .
After campaigning against Brexit in 2016, outgoing Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has become a staunch supporter of it, often adopting a very vocal tone against the European Union.
She is the architect of the law aimed at overriding the agreement signed by London with Brussels on Northern Ireland, at the risk of starting a trade war with the Europeans.
The European Commission has already launched seven infringement procedures against the United Kingdom, which could lead to a referral to European justice, for non-compliance with the provisions of this text.
The protocol was negotiated to answer the delicate question of the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, a member of the European Union.
It was designed to meet a dual objective: to protect the integrity of the single European market and to avoid the return of a land border which would risk undermining the peace concluded in 1998 between London, Dublin and the main political forces in Northern Ireland. North.
For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he looked forward to working “in these difficult times” with Liz Truss.
“The UK and Germany will continue to work closely together, as partners and as friends,” the Chancellor added on Twitter.
The 15 prime ministers of Elizabeth II
Liz Truss will become the 15e Prime Minister in the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, Head of State of the United Kingdom.
After having formally received the resignation of Boris Johnson, the monarch will receive Mr.me Truss at her Scottish residence in Balmoral to appoint her as head of government.
Here is the list of tenants at 10 Downing Street since the Queen’s accession to the throne in 1952.
- Winston Churchill (Conservative, 1951-1955)
- Anthony Eden (curator, 1955-1957)
- Harold Macmillan (curator, 1957-1963)
- Alec Douglas-Home (conservative, 1963-1964)
- Harold Wilson (Labour, 1964-1970)
- Edward Heath (curator, 1970-1974)
- Harold Wilson (Labour, 1974-1976)
- James Callaghan (Labour, 1976-1979)
- Margaret Thatcher (conservatrice, 1979-1990)
- John Major (curator, 1990-1997)
- Tony Blair (Labour, 1997-2007)
- Gordon Brown (Labour, 2007-2010)
- David Cameron (curator, 2010-2016)
- Theresa May (conservatrice, 2016-2019)
- Boris Johnson (Conservative, 2019-2022)