Liz Truss has been named as the UK’s next Prime Minister today evening after she won a high decibel electoral contest against Rishi Sunak, an Indian origin politician. Truss has won the internal leadership contest of the ruling Conservative party. Truss has a tough job cut out for her as Britain faces industrial unrest and a recession. Interestingly, Truss visited India less than six months ago in March.
Truss beat her rival, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, by 81,326 votes to 60,399, after an intense, summer-long, Indian styled divisive party leadership contest that was sparked by Boris Johnson’s resignation in July.
Truss has vowed “bold” action to confront the biting economic crisis.
“We need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy,” Truss said after the result was announced.
“I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply,” she added.
Liz Truss, 47, will be UK’s third female Prime Minister following Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher. She is often compared with Thatcher for her fashion choices.
Boris Johnson was forced to announce his resignation in July after months of scandal saw support for his administration drain away.
Boris Johnson will travel to Scotland to meet Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday to officially tender his resignation. Truss will follow him and be asked to form a government by the Queen. Truss will become the Conservatives’ fourth prime minister since a 2015 election. She faces tough times ahead with her country’s inflation hitting 10.1% in July.
Truss campaigned on a platform of slashing taxes and bulldozing bureaucratic “orthodoxy”, particularly in the finance ministry where she once worked. Rishi Sunak, her rival, was in the news of late because he chose to indulge in cow worship (gau pooja) to lure Hindu votes.
Truss began her political journey as a teenage member of the centrist Liberal Democrats before switching to right-wing Conservatives.
In 2016, she campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union but quickly switched allegiance when Britons backed Brexit. She became foreign minister a year ago after holding a series of ministerial posts in departments including education, international trade and justice. Educated at Oxford, Truss is one of the few top politicians of Britain who went to a State school, that is a government run school. She is often described as an opportunist and a
a political chameleon who has gone from a radical who called for the abolition of the monarchy to a flag-bearer of the Euroskeptic right wing of the Conservative Party. She is just 12 years old and active in politics.
The 47 year old Truss is married to Hugh O’leary, a British tax accountant. Liz truss has two daughters, Liberty and Frances.
Many who have observed her over the years question whether she has any sincere beliefs at all, or if she simply endorses whatever is the most convenient at the time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Liz Truss on being chosen to be the next prime minister of the UK and expressed confidence that under her leadership, the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will be further strengthened. PM Modi tweeted her “all the best for your new role and responsibilities”.
Truss’s real name is Mary Elizabeth Truss and interestingly, it is the first time the UK will have a monarch and Prime Minister who share the same first name since Lord William Melbourne served under William IV from 8 April 1835 to 30 August 1841.
She had also said about the UK’s visa for Indians: “There is no doubt in my mind that many of the best and brightest in the world are in India. I will continue to look at our visa system to make sure it attracts those people.”
Earlier in March 2022, during a visit to India (which was at the same time as Russian Foreign Minister Laprov’s visit), she had urged India to pick the UK over Russia when it came to defence and security. She had said: “India is currently 60% dependent on Russian weapons but obviously they are now concerned about Russia’s strategic relationship with China and also the efficacy of some of those weapons, so there is a real opportunity for closer partnership.”
