UK Prime Minister-LizTruss
Highlights
- Liz Truss appointed as the new Prime Minister of Britain
- Defeated Rishi Sunak by margin of votes
- There are many challenges including inflation and economy
UK Prime Minister: Britain’s Foreign Minister Liz Truss defeated former Indian-origin finance minister Rishi Sunak in a contest for the Conservative Party leadership and will now replace Boris Johnson as prime minister. Truce, 47, is widely expected to become Britain’s third female prime minister after Conservative Party members cast more than 170,000 online and postal votes. With the victory of the Truce, Sunak’s efforts to become Prime Minister of Britain came to an end. The election saw a turnout of 82.6 percent, in which Sunak got 60,399 votes while Truss got 81,326 votes. 172,437 members of the Conservative Party were eligible to vote, while 654 votes were rejected.
His margin of victory also reflects divisions within the party. In this way Truss got 57.4 percent and Sunak got 42.6 percent of the votes. In recent times, leaders in leadership positions have won by a greater margin than in the truce. Now the biggest challenge before the Truce is to strengthen Britain’s shrinking economy, reduce energy prices and bridge the gap in the party. She will also try to reduce the burden of inflation falling on the common citizens. Meanwhile, people will be desperate to know what is the work of the Prime Minister of Britain. How much would his salary be and what powers would he have as a prime minister?
What is the job of the Prime Minister of Britain?
The Prime Minister is the leader of the British Government. appointed by the British Queen. He is usually the leader of the party that wins the UK general election. Since this time Boris Johnson himself left his post before the end of his term, the Conservative Party, which is in the majority, has elected its new leader. The Prime Minister is chosen by the members of the Conservative Party rather than the voters of the country. Liz Truss, who won the election, would remain prime minister for the rest of her term.
Responsible for government policies and decisions
The Prime Minister of Britain is responsible for all the policies and decisions of the government. Their job is to elect the members of the government, who are called ministers. Senior members of the party are made cabinet ministers and are assigned government departments, such as the finance ministry, the home ministry. The Prime Minister can remove the ministers from their posts at any time. He can also create new departments by abolishing government departments. The Prime Minister is in charge of tax and expenditure policies. The Prime Minister and his ministers can bring in new laws only as long as they have the support of Parliament.
What other powers does the British Prime Minister have?
The Prime Minister has complete control of the civil service. That is, those people and departments, who take government decisions. He can take decisions related to the defense and security of Britain. For example, the Prime Minister of Britain has the power to send the army anywhere for military action. However, according to British law, it needs permission from Parliament to take this step. He can approve the use of nuclear weapons by his country. Apart from this, the Prime Minister has many responsibilities, such as shooting down a hijack or an unknown aircraft. He can recommend knighthood and damehood, the country’s highest civilian honours. He can nominate members to the House of Lords. The Prime Minister usually meets with the British Queen once a week to keep her informed of government affairs. These meetings are completely secret and there is no official record of it.
What is the salary of the Prime Minister?
The official residence for the Prime Minister of Britain is called 10 Downing Street. Here the PM has an executive office, where he conducts all day-to-day meetings. 10 Downing Street has been used as the PM residence since 1735. However some prime ministers such as Boris Johnson opted for number 11 to live in, which is much larger than number 10. The salary of the British Prime Minister is 164,080 pounds (Rs 1,50,58,516). In this, 84,144 pounds (Rs 77,22,354) are given to become an MP and the remaining 79,936 (Rs 73,36,162) is given for the post of Prime Minister. However, Boris Johnson only took the PM allowance of £75,440.
How is the responsibility of the Prime Minister determined?
Despite having so much power, the Prime Minister of Britain cannot take decisions of his own free will. He has to maintain the confidence of the MPs in his decisions. Because laws will be passed only when the MPs support it in the majority. If the government continues to lose support, MPs can speak to prove a ‘no-confidence motion’. If the Prime Minister loses the majority, he may have to suffer a loss in the general election. If the prime minister’s party loses the general election and is unable to prove even a no-confidence motion in Parliament, he has to resign himself to hand over power to the leader of the winning party.
How was Liz Truss selected in place of Boris Johnson?
As soon as Liz Truss resigned as Secretary of State, the election battle for leadership broke out between the party’s 357 MPs. Several candidates filed nominations to become leaders of the Conservative Party. For this, five phases of voting took place among the party MPs. In the last phase, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss were the only ones left in the race for the Prime Minister’s chair. After which the party members voted for their leader. Rishi Sunak was way ahead of Liz Truss among party MPs in the 5th phase but was defeated in the voting of party members. Whereas Liz Truss got more votes. After which she became the Prime Minister of Britain and she replaced Boris Johnson.
Will there be a general election in the UK now?
If the Prime Minister resigns, the general elections will not be held. For example, when Theresa May replaced David Cameron in July 2016, she did not call for an immediate election. Boris Johnson became prime minister in July 2016 but did not hold elections until December. That’s why Liz Truss has also decided not to hold early elections. In such a situation, the next general elections will be held in January 2025.
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