Liz Truss defeats Rishi Sunak to become UK’s new Prime Minister

LONDON: Liz Truss has been elected as the British Prime Minister after defeating former finance minister Rishi Sunak in the polls. The former foreign minister was proclaimed the winner after she came out on top in a vote of Conservative Party members. She secured a total of 81,326 votes while her opponent Sunak managed to secure 60,399 votes.

With her victory, 47-year-old Truss has become the third woman prime minister of Britain. She will assume office on Tuesday evening or Wednesday. As per custom, she will visit Queen Elizabeth and claim to form a government. As the Queen is currently at Balmore, her summer residence in Scotland, the ceremony will be held here for the first time in history.

The outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to announce his resignation as the country went through a cost-of-living crisis, industrial unrest and recession. With 50 cabinet members resigning and a majority of party MPs opposing his governance, Boris Johnson was left with no other choice.

It was Rishi Sunak, then minister in the Johnson government, who had initially announced his resignation, leaving the government in crisis. 42-year-old Sunak was appointed as the country’s finance minister in February 2020. He is the husband of Infosys founder chairman N R Narayana Murthy’s daughter Akshata Murty.