London, Sept 5 (AFP/APP): Britain’s new Conservative leader Liz Truss Monday vowed “bold” action to fix the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, as she was confirmed as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s successor after a gruelling party contest.
The foreign secretary resisted pressure for a politically perilous early election to confirm her new mandate, vowing instead to “deliver a great victory for the Conservative party in 2024”.
Truss beat her rival, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, by about 57 to 43 percent after a summer-long contest decided by just over 170,000 Conservative members — a tiny sliver of Britain’s electorate.
Sunak — who has been lukewarm about whether he would serve in Truss’s cabinet — tweeted that now was the time for the party to unite as “one family”.
But Truss ignored her applauding rival as she marched up to the stage of the central London convention hall, calling it an “honour” to be elected after undergoing “one of the longest job interviews in history”.
“I campaigned as a conservative, and I will govern as a conservative,” she said, touting Tory values of low taxes and personal responsibility.
Truss vowed a “bold plan” to address tax cuts and the energy crisis, which she has indicated will be financed by much higher borrowing — even at the risk of stoking double-digit inflation.
Truss, 47, will be the UK’s third woman to become prime minister following Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher.
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