Liz Truss named new UK Prime Minister

2 min read | September 05, 2022 09:40 PM AEST | By Abhishek Sharma

Liz Truss named new UK Prime Minister — Image source: © Wirestock | Megapixl.com

Highlights:

Liz Truss has been chosen as the Conservative Party's leader and the country's new PM.

She defeated former chancellor Rishi Sunak by nearly 20,000 votes.

The leadership race is now over, and the UK is set to get a new prime minister. Liz Truss, who served as the Foreign Secretary under former PM Boris Johnson, has been chosen as the Conservative Party's leader and the country's new PM. She defeated former chancellor Rishi Sunak by nearly 20,000 votes. With the announcement of her victory, the six-week-long leadership campaign to woo the Tory members ends.

Following the announcement, Truss reinstated her 'bold plan' to cut taxes for economic growth.

Truss was the preferred choice of the 81,326 party members, who chose the next Tory leader in voting that closed on Friday. Truss and Sunak spent the last few weeks participating in hustings and traversing the nation to win the confidence of party members.

Sunak, on the other hand, received 60,399 votes.

Truss' vision for economic challenges

During her campaign, Truss has been stressing tax cuts to relieve people from high inflation, which has broken decades-old records. She had pledged to take immediate action on bills if chosen as the PM, saying that she'll proceed with the tax cuts from 'day 1'.

She has also promised to reduce the green levies on energy bills, which comprise around 8% of an average energy bill.

However, there have been claims that her proposed response may cost the country billions. Moreover, tax cuts may not benefit those in the lower-income group, as they pay the least tax and therefore stand to be the least benefitted.

What's next for the party?

The leadership debate has created a divide in the party. The race to replace the man on the top has also revealed the internal rifts between the party. Conservatives made history in 2019 when they won a majority and came to power, but it'll be tough the repeat the feat in the next elections. To attract voters, it needs to do a lot more than make promises and decide what issues are important to it. It'll be these issues only that will shape the next election.

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