British Conservative Party has voted to install Liz Truss as the United Kingdom’s 56th prime minister after narrowly defeating Rishi Sunak.
Truss who was foreign secretary was voted as the Conservative Party leader putting her in line to be the next Prime Minister after Boris Johnson was forced to resign because of ethical scandals that dogged his government.
The announcement came on Monday in London after a leadership election in which only the 180,000 dues-paying members of the Conservative Party were allowed to vote. Truss beat rival Rishi Sunak, the government’s former Treasury chief, by promising to increase defense spending and cut taxes, while refusing to say how she would address the cost-of-living crisis
Truss received 81,326 votes to Sunak’s 60,399.
Under Britain’s parliamentary system of government, the center-right Conservative Party was allowed to hold an internal election to select a new party leader and prime minister, without going to the wider electorate. A new general election isn’t required until December 2024.
Truss’s biggest task will be dealing with the impact of rising energy costs on households and businesses.
One family has told BBC Panorama about how “electricity is the difference between life and death” for their nine-year-old disabled daughter, who needs constant electrical medical equipment.
Dan McEvoy and Maiju Heikkinen, from Bournemouth, say their energy bills have already trebled in the past year.
“We can afford to pay for the bills that keep Elisa alive, which about works if the bill stays like this. But not for long, especially if there’s going to be another price hike. We can’t shave off anything anymore,” said Maiju.
The family say they may have to put Elisa into care if the bills keep going up.
“I feel awful as a father,” says McEvoy. “We can’t sleep at night.”