Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on Tuesday formally appointed Liz Truss as the new Prime Minister of the UK.
Truss defeated former Chancellor Rishi Sunak to become the Prime Minister of UK. She succeeds the Boris Johnson, who was forced to resign in the aftermath of the Partygate Scandal. She was the Foreign Secretary in Johnson's cabinet.
Truss has become the third woman Prime Minister of UK after after Margaret Thatcher (1979–90) and Theresa May (2016-19).
Truss travelled to the 96-year-old monarch's Balmoral Castle residence in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, to meet the Queen who formally asked her to form a new government.
Earlier, outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson submitted his resignation to the Queen who is currently at Balmoral, her retreat in Aberdeenshire, for her annual vacation. The Queen usually receives prime ministers at Buckingham Palace but she remains at Balmoral and it was decided that Johnson and Truss would travel there since the Queen has limited her travels because of her age and health concerns in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following her royal audience, Truss will be flown right back to 10 Downing Street in London to deliver her inaugural speech as the Prime Minister before going on to unveil some key Cabinet posts.
Attorney General Suella Braverman is expected to be the only Indian-origin MP in Truss's top team, as the Goan-origin former leadership contender is expected to be promoted to replace Priti Patel, who resigned as Home Secretary on Monday evening.
Among the other key posts in the new Cabinet, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng —a close ally— is being lined up as Chancellor of Exchequer and Education Secretary James Cleverly is to be promoted to take over Truss’ current portfolio of Foreign Secretary. Other former leadership hopefuls such as British Pakistani Sajid Javid might be offered Northern Ireland Secretary and Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi could be shifted to the role of Cabinet Office minister.
A handful of incumbent ministers, such as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, are expected to retain their jobs. Therese Coffey, a close friend of Truss, is expected to replace Steve Barclay as Health Secretary.
According to UK media reports, besides the Cabinet, a widespread change of guard is also due within Downing Street with some of Johnson’s senior-most aides set for an exit or reshuffle.
As Prime Minister of UK, Truss will is expected to dive into work from the moment she lands at 10 Downing Street as the country is facing severe cost of living crisis, which was also among the main issues in the prime ministerial race. Truss has promised to cut taxes and reverse tax hikes among other measures to tackle the crisis.
It has also been reported that Truss would impose a moratorium on energy bills and would float a package for businesses to cut their energy costs to tackle the energy crisis in the UK.
(With PTI inputs)
