Finance
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss won the Conservative Party leadership election on Monday, defeating Rishi Sunak to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose loyalty appears to have worked against the Indian-origin former chancellor in a result that was closer than expected.
After over 170,000 online and postal votes cast by Tory members, the 47-year-old senior Cabinet minister was widely expected to become Britain’s third female Prime Minister, ending Sunak’s historic run as the first member of Parliament of Indian heritage to compete for the top job at 10 Downing Street.
Truss received 81,326 votes to Sunak’s 60,399 in an election with an 82.6 percent turnout, with 654 rejected ballots from a total of 172,437 eligible Tory voters. It means Truss won by a comfortable margin, but it was narrower than in previous Tory leadership contests, with 57.4 percent to Sunak’s 42.6 percent, reflecting a schism within the ruling party.
Sunak, 42, quickly took to Twitter to plead for party unity, writing, “Thank you to everyone who voted for me in this campaign. I’ve always said that the Conservatives are one big family.
“It’s right that we now unite behind the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times,” said a former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In her acceptance speech, Truss declared: “We will deliver, we will deliver, and we will deliver.” “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,” she said, with reference to the key issue dominating the leadership campaign which she dubbed “one of the longest job interviews in history”.
After thanking her fellow finalist Sunak, Truss also paid tribute to outgoing leader Johnson.
“Boris, you got Brexit done, you crushed [Opposition Labour ex-leader] Jeremy Corbyn, you rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin. You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle,” she said, to a rather muted response from her party colleagues gathered for the announcement.
Her mention of a Tory victory under her leadership in 2024 will be interpreted as ruling out the possibility of an early general election.
Sir Graham Brady, the returning officer for the leadership election and chair of the Conservative Party’s powerful 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, announced the outcome at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre near Downing Street in London.
However, pollsters, political analysts, and media outlets were unsurprised because Truss had been tipped to beat Sunak, 42, in pre-election polls and bookmaker odds.
A combination of the Tory membership base’s lingering loyalty to outgoing Prime Minister Johnson, whom they see as betrayed by former close ally Sunak, and Truss’ pledge to cut taxes are among the key factors behind the British Indian MP failing to clinch the race.
“Truss may have been victorious, but it wasn’t the landslide that many were predicting,” the BBC commented.
Since the Conservative Party changed its internal election rules to give members a final say before the 2001 leadership election, no candidate has received less than 60% of the vote.
Truss received 57% of members’ votes, while Boris Johnson received 66.4 percent in 2019, David Cameron received 67.6% in 2005, and Iain Duncan Smith received 60.7% in 2001.
According to the BBC, Theresa May never faced a membership ballot in 2016 because her opponent, Andrea Leadsom, dropped out after the first round.
While the over 1.5 million-strong Indian diaspora – many of whom are Conservatives with a vote in the election – backed the UK-born MP for Richmond in Yorkshire, other sections of the Conservative Party, including their roots to other parts of the sub-continent were expected to be more divided.
Truss’ campaign pledge to reverse Sunak’s tax hike plans while Chancellor in order to address the country’s cost-of-living crisis appears to have paid off.
While Sunak’s approach of focusing on fighting soaring inflation and using targeted measures to help those in need did resonate with audiences at nearly a dozen party hustings, it clearly wasn’t enough to tip the scales in his favor.
Truss will be able to formally claim her new office at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday afternoon, after predecessor Johnson hands in his formal resignation to the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
It will be followed shortly by Truss’ first meeting with the 96-year-old monarch as Prime Minister-elect, after which she will be flown back to London to begin announcing her new Cabinet top team following her inaugural speech at Downing Street.
She will take her first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, facing off against Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
“After 12 years of the Conservatives, all we have is low wages, high prices, and a Tory cost-of-living crisis. Only Labour can provide the needed fresh start for our country “Starmer said this while congratulating the new Prime Minister elect.
Other opposition leaders were equally critical, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey calling for a general election.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, said she “will seek to build a good working relationship” with the new Tory leader and urged Truss to “freeze energy bills for people and businesses, deliver more cash support, and increase funding for public services.”
Source:BS
