Liz Truss has been elected as the new leader of the Conservative Party, and consequently, the new the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Truss was battling for the top spot in the UK Cabinet with former finance minister, Rishi Sunak. Around 160,000 Tory members cast their votes in the election.

The result was announced by Sir Graham Brady, who is the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party. Truss has now become the fourth Tory Prime Minister since 2015. She will take charge of the country at a time when it is facing a cost-of-living crisis that has put the average British citizen under considerable financial pressure.

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82.6% of Conservative Party members cast their votes in the election, with 57% among them opting for the 47-year-old Truss. Her vote count is lower than what Boris Johnson received in 2019- 66.4%. David Cameron had received 67.6% of the votes in the 2005 elections.

While Truss received 81,326 votes, Sunak was favored by 60,399 Conservative Party members. 654 ballots were declared spoiled by the 1922 Committee. 

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Truss has taken to Twitter to thank all voters for choosing her in the elections. She has assured citizens of the United Kingdom that she “will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential”:

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has congratulated Truss on her victory, but also criticized the Tory governments: “But after 12 years of the Tories all we have to show for it is low wages, high prices, and a Tory cost of living crisis.” Starmer was of the opinion that only a Labour Party leader will be able to give the UK “the fresh start our country needs”.

During her speech, Truss also thanked Sunak for the “hard-fought campaign” she had to go through on her way to 10 Downing Street. She said that this showed “the depth and breadth of talent” in the Conservative Party.