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Liz Truss will become Britain’s next prime minister on Tuesday and will immediately appoint a cabinet of loyalist MPs as her government begins a race against time to set out plans to deal with the cost of living emergency.
She will become Britain’s fourth Tory prime minister in six years after beating Rishi Sunak in the bitterly fought Conservative leadership contest launched after Tory MPs ousted Boris Johnson.
The prime minister-elect is expected to announce plans for an energy price freeze on Thursday as she battles to navigate an overwhelming in-tray during the worst economic crisis in a generation.
She faces an uphill struggle to win over Tory MPs as she inherits a deeply divided party lagging behind in the polls with some mutinous backbenchers already said to be plotting her demise. Truss won 81,326 votes (57.4%) of Tory members to the former chancellor’s 60,399 (42.6%), a narrower victory than many had expected.
On Monday night she celebrated the result with loyalist MPs and supporters but the euphoria of victory will quickly give way to the hard reality of the challenges ahead, with the country gripped by a cost of living crisis and the economy on the brink of recession.
Truss will reveal support for households and businesses later this week, with allies understood to be discussing a £100bn package that could include freezing energy bills. Treasury sources said that under the proposal funds could be provided by commercial banks and backed by government guarantees, and added to consumers’ bills over the long term.
Truss used her victory speech at a central London conference centre to say Tory beliefs in freedom, low taxes and personal responsibility “resonate with the British people”. She added: “During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a conservative and I will govern as a conservative. We need to show that we will deliver over the next two years.”
She promised a “bold plan” to cut taxes and grow the economy, as well as a pledge to “deal with” soaring energy bills and longer-term energy supply, having already pledged to reverse a national insurance rise and cut corporation tax.
Significantly, she appeared to rule out a snap general election, telling the audience in central London that she would “deliver a great victory for the Conservative party in 2024”, an acknowledgment that her party’s fortunes in the months ahead look bleak.
