United kingdom prime minister 2022

Voting finished in the Conservative Party leadership election, with Liz Truss widely expected to be named the winner next week and Online and postal polls of Conservative members closed at 5pm (16:00 GMT) on Friday, after a two-month contest that saw the two final contenders tour the country taking part in hustings and televised debates. The result of the runoff between Foreign Secretary Truss and former finance minister Rishi Sunak will be announced at 12:30pm (11:30 GMT) on Monday, a day before Johnson who is outgoing formally tenders his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II. Conservative Party Co-chairman Andrew Stephenson thanked both candidates for taking part in the often “gruelling schedule in good spirits”. “I know our party is ready to unite around a new leader and tackle the challenges we face as a country ahead,” he said as the ballot closed. Voting by the estimated 200,000 Conservative Party members began in early August, a month after Johnson announced his resignation following a slew of scandals and resignations from his government. Truss, 47, has consistently enjoyed overwhelming support over Sunak in polling of the members. She has campaigned to slash taxes and prioritise economic growth above all else, just as the UK faces decades-high inflation and is tipped to enter recession later this year. “I have a bold plan that will grow our economy and deliver higher wages, more security for families and world-class public services,” Truss said in a statement, as the...

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Liz Truss will become Britain's next prime minister after winning a leadership race for the governing Conservative Party on Monday, vowing to press ahead with promised tax cuts and action to tackle a deepening energy and cost of living crisis. After weeks of an often bad-tempered and divisive leadership contest, Truss, currently the foreign minister and the favourite to win, beat former finance minister Rishi Sunak in a vote of Conservative Party members, winning by 81,326 votes to 60,399. "I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy," Truss said after the result was announced. "I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply." Truss takes over as the country faces a crunch on household finances, industrial unrest, a recession and war in Europe, where Britain has been a leading backer of Ukraine. She appeared to rule out another national election before 2024, when she promised to deliver a great victory for her party. But in a sign of deep divisions in her party, her winning margin was much narrower than had been expected and the narrowest in any Conservative leadership election held this century. Truss also won with the support of less than 50% of members, as almost one in five did not vote. "It's right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times," Sunak said on Twitter. Truss will succeed...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: After a That Sunak, 42, entered 10 Downing Street less than two months after losing his first leadership bid to Liz Truss may well be remembered as one of the swiftest political comebacks in British history. But it is hardly a surprise: The former finance minister was the top choice among fellow Conservative Party lawmakers to replace Boris Johnson after the erstwhile Prime Minister was toppled from power in July. (Truss was the favorite among the Conservative Party’s roughly 200,000 grassroots members, who typically get the final say in leadership races.) This time, Sunak secured the support of nearly 200 Tory MPs, besting Johnson (who preemptively “We now need stability and unity and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together,” Sunak Like his predecessor, Sunak is unlikely to get a honeymoon period. The immediate test will be whether his reputation for fiscal conservatism will be enough to calm the markets and steer the country through the litany of challenges it faces, not least a cost-of-living crisis, rising energy costs, and soaring inflation. Who is Rishi Sunak? Sunak followed one of the most traditional paths to power. Born in the English port city of Southampton to Hindu Punjabi immigrants from East Africa, Sunak was educated at the prestigious Winchester College, one of the U.K.’s elite private boarding schools, before going on to study philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford Univer...