To become the new prime minister of Britain, Liz Truss defeated Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent, on Monday. Additionally, she has been appointed head of the ruling Conservative Party.
At a time when the UK is experiencing a cost of living crisis, industrial unrest, and a recession, Truss, who defeated her opponent Sunak by 81,326 votes to 60,399, will assume control of the government.
Truss replaces Boris Johnson as prime minister of the United Kingdom, joining Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher as the third woman to hold the position.
“It is an honor for me to lead the Conservative Party. I appreciate you putting your faith in me to lead and deliver for our wonderful nation. After winning the UK’s Prime Ministerial election, Truss tweeted, “I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the potential of the United Kingdom.
With an estimated 160,000 online and postal votes submitted by Tory members, the 47-year-old UK Foreign Secretary was generally predicted to win the election, ending Sunak’s historic run as the first member of Parliament of Indian descent to run for the top position at 10 Downing Street.
The British Indian MP’s failure to win the election is mostly due to the Tory membership base’s steadfast commitment to outgoing Prime Minister Johnson, whom they perceive as having been abandoned by erstwhile close ally Sunak, and Truss’ promise to lower taxes.
While the more than 1.5 million-strong Indian diaspora supported the Yorkshire MP for Richmond who was born in the UK, other Conservative Party groups, particularly those with roots in other regions of the sub-continent, were anticipated to be less united.
To address the nation’s cost-of-living crisis, Truss ran on a platform of reversing Sunak’s tax raise proposals while he was Chancellor. This vow appears to have paid off.
Although audiences at the nearly a dozen party hosting responded favorably to Sunak’s stance of wanting to concentrate on combating surging inflation and utilizing targeted measures to offer support to those most in need, that clearly wasn’t enough to tip the scales in his favor.
Once her predecessor Boris Johnson has submitted his formal resignation to the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, it won’t be until Tuesday afternoon that Truss can formally lay claim to her new office at 10 Downing Street.
Soon after, Truss will meet with the 96-year-old monarch for the first time as prime minister-elect before being flown back to London to start introducing her new Cabinet.
