In a packed hall in Westminster, Liz Truss has been declared the winner of the Conservative Party’s leadership contest. Sir Graham Brady proclaimed her victory over Rishi Sunak by more than 20,000 votes of Conservative Party members, 57% of the total vote. Rishi Sunak got 60,399 votes and Liz Truss, 81,326, but the result was closer than many had expected.
David Cameron had a share of the vote above 60%. Boris Johnson had 66.4% of the vote. Truss’s margin of victory is not exactly what she hoped for and she has not been even elected by a majority of her own MPs.
Photo: ©Licensed to Parsons Media. 05/09/2022. London, United Kingdom. Conservative Party Leadership Announcement. QEII Centre. It has been announced that Liz Truss is the newly elected Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, and will be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Picture by Ben Stevens CCHQ / Parsons Media
In her victory speech, Truss said she “campaigned as a Conservative and will govern as a Conservative.” Truss made a promise to deliver “a bold plan” to cut taxes and grow the economy.
During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a Conservative and I will govern as a Conservative. And, my friends, we need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. 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.
Liz Truss
Truss is expected to outline the details of her rescue plan, how she intends to deal with the cost-of-living crisis most likely on Thursday.
Tomorrow, Truss will travel to meet the Queen at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire to complete the transfer of power. Boris Johnson will address the nation for the final time at Downing Street before he formally tender his resignation to the Queen.
