Two months after the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and in the midst of a cost of living crisis, the British find Liz Truss in Downing Street. Announced at 12:30 p.m. (local time), the outcome of the vote, open to some 200,000 members of the Conservative Party, left little room for suspense as the Minister of Foreign Affairs was ahead in the polls against former Minister of Finance Rishi. Sunak.
The 47-year-old minister, who remained loyal to Boris Johnson to the end when the resignations within the executive were counted by the dozens in early July, becomes the fourth British Prime Minister since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the third woman to this post after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May in UK history.
The new Downing Street tenant takes office in an explosive economic and social context, with inflation which exceeds 10% and is expected to rise considerably, and an exorbitant rise in energy bills which is strangling families, businesses and public services.
“Within a month” a tax reform project
And Liz Truss seduced by promising massive tax cuts and taking a very tough tone against unions. For his part, Rishi Sunak, a wealthy ex-banker, lost points by advocating an economic realism far from “fairy tales” and was seen as a technocrat giving lessons unable to understand the difficulties of households.
Sunday, Liz Truss assured the BBC that 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. According to several British media, it is considering a freeze in energy prices. She also stressed that she would present “within a month” a tax reform project to deal with the crisis.
In two popular newspapers, the Sun and the DailyMailshe promised to “do everything” so that the British each have “the opportunity to go as far as their talent and hard work can take them”.