Liz Truss Becomes New British Prime Minister, Defeats Rishi Sunak

Lizz Truss New UK: Liz Truss has maintained a steady lead among party members in the race for the post of party leader.

Newly-elected Prime Minister of Britain, Liz Truss (Source: Twitter/@trussliz)

New Delhi: The process of electing the leader of the Conservative Party was completed on Monday, after which it has been decided Foreign Minister Liz Truss will be the next Prime Minister of Britain. Since the announcement of the resignation of current Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July, Liz Truss has maintained a steady lead among party members in the race for the post of party leader. Liz, who secured 81,326 votes to Rishi Sunak's 60,399, said it is an "honour to be elected" as she thanked her party for organising "one of the longest job interviews in history".

#WATCH | Liz Truss defeats rival Rishi Sunak to become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom pic.twitter.com/Xs4q2A2ldu

— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2022

"I am honoured to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party. Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country. I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential," she said in a tweet.

I am honoured to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party.

Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country.

I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential. pic.twitter.com/xCGGTJzjqb

— Liz Truss (@trussliz) September 5, 2022

"I'll deliver a bold plan to cut taxes & grow our economy, on the energy crisis & long-term issues on energy supply & National Health Service...& we'll deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024," said Liz Truss after being named as the next PM.

In Britain, the party's prime ministerial candidate is decided by the vote of its members, who make up less than one percent of the UK population.

The winner is chosen by members of the Conservative Party. The candidate they choose automatically becomes prime minister as the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament.

Sunak and Truss participated in several programs to gain the support of their party members. In these programs, both candidates were questioned about their policies.

Sunak, 42, a former Indian-origin finance minister, focused his campaign on a 10-point plan to tackle rising inflation, and illegal immigration, combat crime to make Britain's roads safer and restore confidence in the government.

After being embroiled in controversies, Boris Johnson resigned from the post of Prime Minister and after that Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss reached the last stage in the race for the new leader of the Conservative Party. 

How Were The Last Two Candidates Selected?

The Conservative Party's 357 eligible MPs exercised their franchise in a multi-round voting process. The candidate with the fewest votes in each round was eliminated.

This process continued till only two candidates were left. And these were the two candidates: former chancellor Rishi Sunak and foreign minister Liz Truss.