Liz Truss is preparing to take over as Britain’s 56th Prime Minister and will begin unveiling her new Cabinet on Tuesday.
Ms Truss, who beat her rival, Rishi Sunak, in the Conservative leadership contest, will formally assume the role after seeing Her Majesty the Queen at Balmoral early Tuesday afternoon.
She is likely to begin unveiling new Cabinet appointments, with Kwasi Kwarteng tipped to be the next Chancellor amid the UK’s worsening cost-of-living crisis.
However, former Chancellor and rival, Mr Sunak, appeared to rule himself out of a Cabinet position if offered, telling the BBC he would contest the next election for his North Yorkshire seat of Richmond, and saying he was “not thinking” about serving in a top job.
Meanwhile Home Secretary Priti Patel on Monday evening resigned as Home Secretary when Ms Truss becomes Prime Minister and will serve from the backbenches.
Ms Patel, who had been considered unlikely to be offered a position in Ms Truss’s new-look Cabinet, said she would continue to push for policies she had supported in Government and that the party’s new leader had her support.
Suella Braverman, a former contender for the Tory leadership, has been tipped to take over the role. Meanwhile, James Cleverly is reportedly being lined up to take over as Foreign Secretary.
Buckingham Palace said Boris Johnson is due to arrive at the door of Balmoral at 11.20am on Tuesday for his audience with the Queen for his departure.
It will, according to custom, be private and off-camera.
At 12.10pm, Ms Truss is set to arrive at the castle door ready for her audience, which is expected to last for around 30 minutes before she departs at around 12.40pm as Prime Minister.
Tackling the rise in energy prices will be at the top of her to-do list, a minister said Monday, with a report suggesting that she is considering a price freeze at current levels for domestic households.
Business minister Greg Hands said in a statement in the Commons that ensuring consumers and businesses are "protected" from the volatile energy prices will be a priority for Ms Truss.
However, MPs warned businesses, such as pubs and grassroots sports clubs and even care homes are already struggling, with some facing a six-fold increase in their energy bills.
Mr Hands told the Commons: “We see no reason to believe that gas prices will fall any time soon.
“Prices will continue to be driven by geopolitical instability, with energy bills likely to remain high for some time to come.”
He added: “I know that tackling this issue will be at the top of the incoming prime minister’s inbox as we look to address both the short-term shocks and longer-term needs of the UK energy system.”
Ms Truss vowed Monday to “deliver, deliver, deliver” on the priorities of the British public in a speech accepting victory in the leadership contest.
However she has yet to set out how she will respond to energy price crisis, previously vowing that concrete action would occur within days of taking over the top role.
