Liz Truss is now announced as the new Conservative leader and next Prime Minister
Liz Truss will replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister after defeating Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership race.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, announced on Monday that Ms. Truss won with 81,326 votes to Sunak’s 60,399, after a hard-fought six-week contest marked by blue-on-blue attacks and dire warnings about his economic plans in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
After handing over the keys to No 10 at Balmoral on Tuesday, Mrs Truss will “face one of the most difficult legacies of any prime minister” in the past 50 years, former No 10 chief of staff Gavin Barwell warned.
In contrast to her campaign rhetoric, reports suggest Ms Truss is considering freezing energy bills if she wins the keys to No 10, with The Times suggesting the package could be on the scale of the scheme of Covid leave introduced by Mr Sunak while Chancellor.
Senior Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown urged his party to support any energy plan announced by the next prime minister, warning that “divided parties do not win elections”.
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Joe Lycett congratulates Liz Truss for ‘crushing it’
Joe Lycett has congratulated Liz Truss for “absolutely smashing it” after her victory in the Tory leadership race, in a continuation of a satirical issue that has launched a host of headlines over the past 24 hours.
The comedian drew the ire of the Daily Mail after he sarcastically applauded Mrs Truss’ appearance on Laura Kuenssberg’s new Sunday politics show on the BBC. After Mrs Kuenssberg’s interview with Mrs Truss ended, Lycett could be heard cheering off-screen, shouting: “You’ve smashed it, Liz!”
“You broke it Liz!” Comedian Joe Lycett shouts an assessment during the BBC interview with Truss
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:50 pm
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Truss is targeting a 2024 general election as the new prime minister rules out a snap poll
Liz Truss has indicated she wants to delay the general election until 2024 as she appeared to rule out a snap poll in her Tory leadership victory speech.
Despite calls from Labor and the Lib Dems for an early election, Ms Truss indicated she would not be heading to the country anytime soon.
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest has the details here:
Liz Truss targets 2024 election as new PM rules out snap poll
The new Tory leader promises a “big win” for his party and praises Boris Johnson
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:41 p.m
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Defeated leadership hopeful Sunak calls on party to ‘unite behind new PM’
Following his defeat in the Tory leadership race, Rishi Sunak has also called on Tories to “unite behind the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, as she leads the country through difficult times”.
His tweet came shortly after Ms Truss failed to shake his hand, or look at him, after his victory was announced:
Liz Truss is not to shake hands with Rishi Sunak after winning the Tory leadership contest
The former chancellor, who emerged as the “underdog” in the race despite leading in the early stages of the Tory MP vote, performed slightly better than expected in the deciding vote of party members conservative, after some polls indicated he was on track. to get only 34% of the votes.
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:39 p.m
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Boris Johnson calls on Tories to get behind Liz Truss ‘100 per cent’
Boris Johnson has called on the Conservative Party to “100% screw up” Liz Truss as he congratulated the newly elected Tory leader on her “decisive victory”.
The outgoing Prime Minister can take solace in the fact that Ms Truss’s margin of victory over Rishi Sunak (57-43) was slightly smaller than her margin over Jeremy Hunt in 2019, when she won 66 per cent of the votes
Rumors have abounded in recent weeks about Johnson’s future in politics. For one, he could face a by-election in his constituency if the privileges committee finds he has misled parliament.
However, amid talk of a future “Trumpian” return to management, William Hill today cut its odds of returning to No.10 after the next general election, from 33/1 to 16/1, by compared to Mr. 20/1 Sunak.
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:33 pm
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Nicola Sturgeon offers ‘congratulations’ to Liz Truss, despite ‘attention seeker’ taunt
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has congratulated Liz Truss after her victory in the Tory leadership race.
Ms. Sturgeon, that Ms. Truss chose to be branded an “attention seeker” who should be ignored during one of the Tory leadership search events, tweeting: “Our political differences are deep but I will try to build a good working relationship with her as I did it with the last 3 in the afternoon.
The Prime Minister urged the new Tory leader to “freeze energy bills for people and businesses, provide more cash support and increase funding for public services”.
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:20 pm
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The pound rebounded slightly after Truss’ victory, after falling to a 37-year low
The pound rose slightly after Liz Truss was announced as the new Tory leader.
Sterling was trading at 1.1508 against the dollar, up a little more than 0.7% on the day.
It had traded slightly lower before the announcement, but had already recovered most of its ground after falling to a 37-year low earlier on Monday.
Against the euro, the pound rose 0.3% to 1.1600.
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Tories ‘have shown they don’t care’: Lib Dem leader calls for general election after Truss win
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called a general election after Liz Truss won the Tory leadership contest, warning that the UK is now “set to see more of the same crisis and chaos as under Boris Johnson.”
He tweeted: “From the cost of living emergency to the NHS crisis the Tories have shown they don’t care and have no plan. Time to scrap the energy price rise and call general election”.
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:14 p.m
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“Out of touch”, Truss is “not on the side of working people”, says Starmer
Reacting to the Tory leadership results, Sir Keir Starmer said Liz Truss is “not on the side of Labour” after being unveiled as the party’s new leader.
Speaking at Friern Barnet School in north London, he told reporters: “We heard a lot more from the last Prime Minister about the corporation tax cuts over the summer than we did about the crisis in cost of living, the most important thing it has. to so many millions of households.
“This shows not only that he is out of touch, but that he is not on the side of working people. So he has to deal with the cost of living crisis, he has to deal with the fact that the NHS is on its knees and must deal with the collapse of law and order.
“There can be no justification for not freezing energy prices. There is a political consensus that needs to happen. He has to wonder how he’s going to pay for it. Labor made it clear that it must be an extraordinary tax on oil and gas companies.
“So he needs to show that he really understands and can deal with the challenges that lie ahead after 12 years of failure by this Conservative government.”
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:11 p.m
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53% to 47% Liz Truss wins narrower than expected
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest reports:
Liz Truss’s camp would have expected a bigger margin of victory over rival Rishi Sunak, winning between 57% and 43% of the Tory members’ vote.
It falls short of the 66% to 33% victory enjoyed by Boris Johnson over Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 leadership contest, which allowed him to claim broad support in the party.
Paul Goodman, editor of ConservativeHome, said there was hope in the Truss camp earlier in the campaign that it could be a 70-30 result. He said that “anything for her below 60 percent can be read as a disappointment.”
Truss did not shake hands with his rival before his speech, and is not expected to name any backers of Sunak to cabinet roles. But he did say he wanted to “use all the great talent” at the party.
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:08 p.m
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Watch Truss’ full speech: New Tory leader promises to ‘use all the great talent in the Conservative Party’
In a possible allusion to warnings that she must install a cabinet representing all wings of the Tory party, including those who backed Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss said in her victory speech that she would “use all fantastic talents from the Conservative Party.”
“I will make sure we use all the fantastic talent in the Conservative Party: our brilliant Members of Parliament and our peers; our fantastic councillors; our MSPs; all our councilors; and activists and members across our country.
You can watch his entire victory speech here:
Conservative leadership: Watch Liz Truss’ speech after being announced as the new Prime Minister
Andy Gregory September 5, 2022 1:07 p.m