LONDON — Liz Truss won the bitter race to succeed Boris Johnson as U.K. prime minister, and will take power with the country facing brutal economic headwinds that threaten to plunge millions of Britons into poverty this winter.
The foreign secretary, 47, emerged victorious on Monday after a two-month Conservative Party leadership contest that started with 11 candidates and concluded with a runoff against former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak. She defeated him by 81,326 votes to 60,399 in a ballot of party members — a narrower margin than polls had projected, illustrating the challenge she’ll face in trying to unite the party — and will now become Britain’s third female prime minister.
Truss inherits a forbidding in-tray, with the U.K. facing surging inflation, a potential recession and a record squeeze on living standards spurred by soaring energy prices. Markets have been flashing red through August, with the pound, gilts and corporate bonds seeing their biggest sell-offs in years.
