Liz Truss to succeed Boris as new UK PM; defeats Rishi Sunak in Conservative Party polls

Liz Truss has been officially declared the winner of the Tory leadership election and will succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Liz Truss beat Indian-origin Conservative Leader and former Treasury Chief Rishi Sunak by a massive 20,297 votes by securing 81,326 votes while Rishi Sunak secured 60,399 votes. 

With Cthe Conservative Party choosing Liz Truss as their leader, the Foreign Secretary will be the third woman Prime Minister of Britain after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May. Queen Elizabeth II will formally name Truss as Prime Minister tomorrow at her Balmoral estate in Scotland where she is currently vacationing instead of the Buckingham Palace

Addressing the Conservative Party Members after being announced as the Leader, Truss thanked the Party and outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, while asserting she will deliver on her bold plans. She said, 'We all will deliver for our country, and I will make sure that we use all the fantastic talents of our Conservative Party. We will deliver, we will deliver, we will deliver - and we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024."

The Conservative Party's online and postal polls ended at 5 p.m. (16:00 GMT) on September 2 after a two-month campaign that saw the last two candidates, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, tour the nation and participate in hustings and television debates.

The outcome of the runoff between Foreign Secretary Truss and former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak was announced on September 5 at 12:30pm (local time), a day before outgoing Prime Minister Johnson formally tenders his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II. Andrew Stephenson, chairman of the Conservative Party, congratulated both candidates for participating in the frequently "gruelling schedule in good spirits."

Voting by the Conservative Party's estimated 200,000 members began in early August, a month after Johnson announced his retirement in the aftermath of a spate of scandals and resignations from his cabinet. Truss, 47, has consistently received overwhelming support from party members in polling. She has campaigned to cut taxes and prioritize economic growth above all else, at a time when the UK is experiencing decades-high inflation and is expected to enter recession later this year.

"I have a bold plan that will grow our economy and deliver higher wages, more security for families and world-class public services. If I am elected prime minister, I will never let anyone talk us down and I will do everything in my power to make sure our great nation succeeds," Truss said in a statement as the curtain came down on her frequently contentious battle with Sunak.

Who is Liz Truss?

Mary Elizabeth Truss was born in 1975 in Oxford, England. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was a mathematics instructor, according to Sky News. Truss' parents have been defined as "on the left of Labour" by Truss. Her family relocated to Leeds, a less prosperous city in northern England, when she was still a child.

Unlike Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who attended the elite private school Eton College like many of his predecessors, Truss attended state-run schools in England and Scotland. Truss was a member of the Liberal Democrats while at Oxford University, where she led the party's university association.

She even campaigned against the monarchy, as seen in a 1994 video clip. After graduating two years later, she departed to join the Conservative Party. Truss worked in telecoms for ten years before entering politics. She was initially elected as a councillor in the London borough of Greenwich in 2006, and she was elected as a Member of Parliament for Southwest Norfolk in 2010.