Liz Truss to be British PM
New Delhi. Liz Truss, the foreign minister in the Boris Johnson government, has won the prime ministerial race. He has won the election of Prime Minister by defeating Rishi Sunak of Indian descent. She will be the new Prime Minister of Britain. Liz Truss also had the support of Boris Johnson. However, Rishi Sunak defeated Liz Truss in the vote of Conservative Party MPs. But Sunak lost in the voting of about two and a half lakh Conservative members. The results were announced on Monday at 12:30 according to British time.
Pre-poll media polls predicted Liz Truss to win by a huge margin, but the actual results did not come to fruition. Truss could not win by a huge margin. About 82 percent of the nearly two and a half lakh conservative members voted. Liz Truss got around 57 per cent of the total vote, while Sunak got a little over 42 per cent. Truss is the first prime minister since 2001 to get less than 60 per cent of the vote.
On Tuesday, Boris Johnson will deliver his last speech as prime minister from Prime Minister’s Residence 10, Downing Street, before leaving for Aberdeenshire, Scotland, to hand over his resignation to the Queen. Right now, Queen Elizabeth is right there. The 96-year-old Queen has trouble walking, so both Johnson and Liz Truss will go to her. Usually this work is done at Buckingham Palace. Liz will meet with the Queen after Johnson’s resignation. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at Balmoral Castle, Scotland. Prime Minister Liz will return to London after the official appointment and will have her first speech from 10, Downing Street. She will form her new cabinet in the evening of the same day.
Liz Truss will be Britain’s third female prime minister. Before him, Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher had been Prime Ministers of Britain. Liz Truss considers Thatcher as her role model. However, in July this year, Boris Johnson resigned as the leader of the Conservative Party after being embroiled in several controversies. After that the election of the new leader was announced. The first phase was contested by votes from Conservative Party MPs, with the two top contenders being Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
After Liz Truss was elected Prime Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished him well. Modi tweeted, “Congratulations to Liz Truss on being elected the next Prime Minister of Britain, I am sure that under your leadership, the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will further strengthen.” Best wishes to you for your new responsibilities and new position.
