Liz Truss was voted in as the new leader of the Conservative Party, and as a result, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But while the leadership contest between her and Rishi Sunak had all the look and feel of a general election campaign, critics have pointed to a democratic deficit at the heart of the contest.
It’s not uncommon for ruling parties to change their leader during a stint in government. It happened most recently when Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May, who had herself replaced David Cameron.
Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair mid-term, as John Major did with Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan with Harold Wilson, Sir Alec Douglas-Home with Harold Macmillan, and Harold Macmillan with Sir Anthony Eden. However, Liz Truss is only the second Prime Minister in our history to have been chosen directly by a political party's members. The only other one was Boris Johnson in 2019.
