Liz Truss is elected as the new British Prime Minister; she promises to lower taxes

Until now Minister of Foreign Affairs, Liz Trusswas chosen by the British Conservatives to become Prime Minister, succeeding the resigning Boris Johnson, a person in charge of the formation announced on Monday.

Truss, 47, won 81,326 votes to 60,399 over former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, 42, a billionaire ex-banker who is the grandson of Indian immigrants.

“It’s an honor,” said a visibly moved Truss in a speech in which she paid tribute to Johnson for his work at the head of the country since 2019, bringing Brexit to fruition, overcoming the pandemic and standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.

Truss will become head of government after meeting on Tuesday with the Queen isabel II. Truss will be the third prime minister of the country, after the also conservative Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) y Theresa May (2016-2019).

The new prime minister promised to get the country out of the crisis with tax cuts, measures on the cost of energy and boosts to economic growth.

“I will present a bold plan to reduce taxes and grow our economy. I will deal with the energy crisis and citizens’ bills, but also with the long-term problems we have in energy supply,” she said when announced. his victory.

The race for the leadership began in July, when the controversial Johnson was pushed by his own party to resign.

Voting for members by mail and online closed on Friday, after eight weeks of campaigning that Truss described as “the longest job interview in history.”

The result, however, is not necessarily representative of the wishes of the 67 million Britons.

In a YouGov poll in late August, 52% of respondents thought Truss would make a “bad” or “terrible” prime minister. 43% stated that they do not trust it “at all” when it comes to responding to the problem of the growing cost of living, which has dominated the news for weeks.

transfer of power

The change of prime minister will not take place, however, until Tuesday, when Johnson will deliver his farewell speech in Downing Street.

He will then travel to Balmoral, Elizabeth II’s summer residence in Scotland, 800 km north of London, to present his formal resignation to the queen, who will then officially name Truss as her successor.

For the first time in her 70-year reign, Elizabeth II, 96, will not travel to London for this ceremony, due to her increasing mobility problems.

The new head of government will then return to the capital, to deliver her first speech before the famous black door of number 10 Downing Street, form a government and debate in Parliament with the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, on Wednesday.

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