Britain will soon have a new prime minister. Conservative Party members have chosen Liz Truss as their new party leader, withQueen Elizabethexpected to make the formal appointment at Balmoral Castle on Tuesday.
Truss, 47, previously served as Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2019.
Liz Truss.Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/getty
The margin of victory, however, was slimmer than many expected, with Truss winning 57% of the votes of Conservative Party members to become its leader.
“Thanks for putting your faith in me to lead our Conservative Party, the greatest political party on earth,” Truss told supporters at an announcement event Monday, NBC News reports.
Truss' appointment makes her the third woman to serve as prime minister, behindMargaret Thatcher(1979–1990) andTheresa May(2016–2019).
It is to be a historic event on numerous fronts, with the Queen slated to officially appoint the new prime minister in Scotland, rather than England — a decision made to avoid any last-minute changes due to her episodic mobility issues.
The news comes nearly two months afterBoris Johnsonannounced he had agreed to step down as the British Prime Minister in July.
The former Conservative Party leader announced his resignation outside No.10 Downing Street after losing the confidence of his cabinet. Johnson, who was elected prime ministerin July 2019, had a tenure mired with scandal.
Boris Johnson.Beresford Hodge/PA Images via Getty Images
Johnson’s premiership finally came to an end as a result of a scandal involving Conservative MP Chris Pincher, however, who was forced to resign as deputy chief whip of the Conservative Party afterbeing suspended for allegedly groping two menat the prestigious Carlton Club in London’s upscale Mayfair neighborhood.
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Pincher resigned on June 30, though it emerged that Johnsonhad been warned that the MP had acted similarlybefore promoting him to government office.
Against the backdrop of “Partygate,” Pincher’s resignation and other scandals — such as Johnson refurbishing his Downing Street apartment with wallpaper costing $1,000 a roll — the conservative lawmaker resigned, saying: “It’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself. But as we have seen at Westminster the herd instinct is powerful. When the herd moves, it moves.”
He continued: “To that new leader, whoever he or she may be, I say I will give you as much support as I can. And to you the British public, I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.”
source: people.com
