Liz Truss finally bowed to pressure and pledged “action this week” to tackle soaring energy prices as she entered No10.
After downpours in Downing Street almost forced her to speak inside, the new Prime Minister said Britain would “ride out the storm”.
Preparing to unveil a plan to ease the cost of living crisis, the Tory leader said after 12 years of her party’s rule: “I will take action this week to deal with energy bills and to secure our future energy supply.” She is expected to outline £90billion of help for families and businesses tomorrow.
Households are being hammered by inflation rampaging at 10.1%, mortgage rates climbing and the energy price cap soon due to rise.
The rise on October 1 looks set to swell an average family’s annual energy bill from £1,971 to £3,549.
Ms Truss is thought to be planning to freeze the cap at a point where the average bills would be around £2,500 – some £500 higher than current levels but more than £1,000 below the expected level after the rise.
Details were still being thrashed out in Whitehall last night but the plan is expected to be funded by general taxation or borrowing rather than paid for in future energy bills.
Ministers in the new Cabinet are expected to rubber-stamp the proposal at a meeting this morning.
The fourth Conservative PM in a row since 2010, former Foreign Secretary Ms Truss said her three priorities were slashing taxes in a bid to trigger economic growth, the fuel price crisis and addressing NHS backlogs.
The successor to David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson insisted: “We shouldn’t be daunted by the challenges we face. As strong as the storm may be, I know that the British people are stronger.”
Action for Children policy director Imran Hussain said of tomorrow’s expected announcement: “Thursday is D-Day for millions of families with children and will determine whether they go under this winter.
“Few of us will escape the pain of soaring living costs but it’s a different world of pain for families on benefits already rationing the basics.”
Labour ’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “Liz Truss is not on the side of working people. She nodded through the decisions that got working people into this mess and is expecting working people to shoulder the cost of getting out of it.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Across the whole summer Liz Truss and the Conservatives have utterly failed to come up with any ideas to help our country through the cost of living crisis.
“It is time for Liz Truss to do the right thing and cancel the winter energy price rise, then call a general election.”
The new Premier faces Labour leader Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions at noon.
The handover over power – from another PM initially elected by party members only – began at 12.38pm on Monday when Ms Truss was declared the winner of the leadership race.
At 7.30am yesterday, Boris Johnson stepped up to the lectern outside No10 to make his final address as PM.
Watched by wife Carrie, 34, sister Rachel, 57, and loyal MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries and Ben Wallace, he lashed out at Tory rebels who forced him out but pledged his support to Ms Truss.
Beginning his speech, “This is it, folks”, Mr Johnson spoke for 11 minutes and 36 seconds before taking Carrie’s hand and climbing into an armoured Range Rover for the 17-mile drive to RAF Northolt, North West London.
At the airbase, he boarded an RAF Dassault Falcon 900LX for flight KRF18, a 60-minute shuttle to Aberdeen Airport.
Sixty-five minutes later, his replacement Ms Truss was whisked in a blue-light convoy to Northolt where she boarded an identical jet.
Her flight took 87 minutes as poor visibility at Aberdeen delayed landing, forcing her plane to circle for 37 minutes.
It eventually touched down at 11.02am.
Meanwhile, three years and 44 days after he became the Queen’s 14th PM, Mr Johnson formally resigned to the Queen at Balmoral Castle.
For about half an hour, Britain had no PM, until the monarch - who decided not to travel back to London because of mobility issues - asked Ms Truss to form a government.
Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen received in Audience the Right Honourable Elizabeth Truss MP today and requested her to form a new administration.
“Ms Truss accepted Her Majesty’s offer and kissed hands upon her appointment as PM and First Lord of the Treasury.”
The new Premier was driven back to Aberdeen Airport where, at 2.38pm, her plane took off to bring her back to the capital.
The aircraft landed at Northolt at 3.56pm and police outriders escorted Ms Truss’s seven-vehicle convoy through London’s busy traffic.
The cavalcade swept into Downing Street at 5.06pm where Ms Truss addressed supporters and TV cameras.
She and husband Hugh O’Leary posed for pictures on the doorstep before going inside.
Moments later, Ms Truss was driven to Parliament so she could sack ministers from Boris Johnson’s Government away from the public gaze in Downing Street.
She later returned to No10 to begin appointing her Cabinet.
