Liz Truss will tomorrow become the Tories’ fourth Prime Minister in six years – after being elected by just 0.12 per cent of the UK population.
It may be yet another new face in the top job, but the fears are she will continue with the Conservative failure and negligence that has seriously damaged Britain.
Labour ’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “All Britain has to show for the last 12 years of Tory government is low wages, high prices and a Tory cost of living crisis.”
She added: “Liz Truss offers more of the same old failed Tory ideas that got us in this mess.”
While concerns remain about the Conservatives steering Britain’s economy and public services ever closer to the edge of the cliff, at least one of the old guard has already walked away.
Priti Patel last night quit as Home Secretary. She jumped before she was pushed.
After a bitter Tory leadership contest that lasted eight weeks, Ms Truss, 47, is due to take up residence in No10 tonight.
Boris Johnson is due to deliver his final speech as Prime Minister in Downing Street at 7.30am before jetting to Balmoral to resign to the Queen.
Ms Truss, who called for abolition of the monarchy as a Lib Dem student, will follow Mr Johnson to the royal estate in Aberdeenshire for an audience with Her Majesty who will ask her to form a government.
Ms Truss beat Rishi Sunak in the final run-off in the leadership race. Only Tory Party members could vote.
Ms Truss finished on 57%, with her rival on 43% – a narrower margin of victory than many expected.
The former Chancellor Mr Sunak had 60,399 votes. Ms Truss secured 81,326 votes, which is 0.12% of the UK population of around 67 million.
The new Tory leader vowed to press ahead with Mr Johnson’s 2019 election-winning manifesto.
Ms Truss told party activists: “Our beliefs resonate with the British people – our beliefs in freedom, in the ability to control your own life, in low taxes, in personal responsibility.
“And I know that’s why people voted for us in such numbers in 2019, and as your party leader, I intend to deliver what we promised those voters right across our great country.” She is the latest Conservative leader to enter office pledging to transform the country.
David Cameron came to power in 2010 promising a “Big Society”; Theresa May, who took over in 2016 after the EU referendum, said she wanted to tackle “burning injustices”, while Mr Johnson, who became Prime Minister in 2019, vowed to “level-up” the country.
After the trio failed to do what they had promised, the jury will be out on the ability of the latest PM – seen as the Boris Johnson continuity candidate – to keep her word.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Under Liz Truss, we’re set to see more of the same as under Boris Johnson.” Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned that “continuity with the Conservatives” poses the “biggest risk” to Britain.
Mr Johnson is said to have wanted Ms Truss to win the leadership contest.
After her victory, he claimed she “has the right plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, unite our party and continue the great work of uniting and levelling-up our country”.
Mr Sunak, who during the leadership battle warned that Ms Truss’ economic plans would “leave millions of incredibly vulnerable people at the risk of real destitution”, said yesterday the party should now come together to support her “as she steers the country through difficult times.”
Senior Cabinet posts are set to be announced this evening after Ms Truss returns to London.
Millions of people battling the cost of living crisis want to hear how her top team plans to help struggling households. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is tipped to become Chancellor, and junior Foreign Office minister James Cleverly is tipped for promotion to Foreign Secretary.
While, the Attorney General Suella Braverman is expected to become Home Secretary.
If the line-up is confirmed, the overhaul would mean no white man in any of the four Great Offices of State for the first time ever.
Johnson loyalist Jacob Rees-Mogg has been tipped to remain in the Cabinet, possibly as Business Secretary, while Department for Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey is expected to get a promotion, with some believing she will become the Health Secretary.
Ms Truss’ supporters were laughing before the leadership contest result was announced at 12.37pm yesterday at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster. Just over 654 ballots were rejected, sparking claims they may have called for Mr Johnson to remain in power.
Ms Truss, who becomes Britain’s 56th PM, failed to meet the threshold she plans to slap on workers voting for strike action.
She has vowed that within 30 days of entering No10 she will raise the minimum threshold for strikes from 40% of all eligible voters to 50%.
With 82% of the party’s 172,437 members taking part in the ballot, she only won the votes of 47% of eligible Tory members.
Ms Truss, a married mum to two teenage daughters, will be the third female PM, following Mrs May and Margaret Thatcher.
Her premiership is set to be defined by her handling of the economic crisis. Fears over the UK economy sent the pound plunging to a 37-year low in the run-up to the leadership announcement.
In her victory speech, Ms Truss promised “a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024” – suggesting that’s when she plans to call the next general election.
But the party’s ability to raise funds suffered a blow as co-chairman Ben Elliot, an ally of Mr Johnson and nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall, quit after Ms Truss’ triumph.
He raised tens of millions for the Tories’ 2019 campaign war chest.
