Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 committee, announced just after 12:30 pm on 5th September 2022 that Liz Truss was the new leader of the Conservative Party, and will take over from Boris Johnson as prime minister.
Liz Truss won with 81,326 of the vote to Rishi Sunak’s 60,399. She began her speech by thanking outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson before setting out some of her plans for government.
The election of Truss marks the end of a bruising 8-week leadership contest which saw the Conservative Party ripped apart by blue-on-blue attacks.
Liz Truss will take office tomorrow when she travels to Balmoral for the Queen to ask her to form a government. She will then spend the afternoon forming her Cabinet before getting on with the business of governing.
She will face a sizeable in-tray, with the Cost of Living crisis looming over the nation and her party sitting around 15% behind Labour in the polls.
She has said that she will announce measures within a week for how she intends to tackle the cost of living crisis, with VAT cuts and potential direct relief offered to people struggling with energy bills.
She is reportedly considering an energy price freeze, which may force wholesalers to sell at a loss in order to prevent soaring energy bills.
She becomes the third female prime minister and the 15th Prime Minister to serve during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
