Former British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss has been named the new UK’s Prime Minister after winning the Conservative Party’s leadership contest on Monday.
She will formally take over as Prime Minister on Tuesday, after months of scandals plunged Boris Johnson’s administration into crisis and forced him to resign.
Truss will inherit a cost-of-living crisis, the aftershocks of Brexit, a war in Europe and dropping support for the Conservatives in the opinion polls.
The incoming UK PM has promised a “bold plan” to cut taxes and said she will address spiralling energy prices that are driving a cost-of-living crisis in the country.
Liz Truss offered no details of what either plan will involve; throughout her campaign, her critics, including opponent Rishi Sunak, have pushed her to detail her next steps, with households facing another spike in costs next month.
“I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy,” Truss said. “I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills.”
Liz Truss began her victory speech by congratulating her opponent, Rishi Sunak, who pushed her closer than many expected in the final ballot.
She then gave a hearty tribute to Boris Johnson, who she will replace as prime minister on Tuesday after months of scandals forced him to resign.
“Boris: you got Brexit done, you crushed Jeremy Corbyn, you rolled out the vaccine, and you stood up to Vladimir Putin,” Truss said. “You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.”
“I know that our beliefs resonate with the British people,” she told the crowd of Conservative members. “I campaigned as a Conservative and I will govern as a Conservative.”
Liz Truss, who has served as Boris Johnson’s foreign secretary for the past year, won 57% of the votes of Conservative Party members to become its leader. Rishi Sunak took 43%.
It was a closer than anticipated victory for the longtime favorite, who was popular among party members but won the support of less than a third of her MPs earlier in the leadership contest.
As the leader of the ruling Conservative Party, Truss is now British Prime Minister, replacing Boris Johnson who resigned early July after a scandal-hit government.
Truss, 47, will be the third UK female Prime Minister following Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
Here are some things to know about the third female British Prime Minister:
1 – Liz Truss (Mary Elizabeth Truss) was born on July 26, 1975 in Oxford, England, to John Kenneth and Priscilla Mary Truss.
2 – Truss attended West Primary School in Paisley, Scotland. She then attended Roundhay School, in the Roundhay area of Leeds.
3 – She read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Merton College, Oxford, graduating in 1996.
4 – Truss was active in the Liberal Democrats. She was president of Oxford University Liberal Democrats and a member of the national executive committee of Liberal Democrat Youth and Students. During her time as a Liberal Democrat, Truss supported the legalisation of cannabis and the abolition of the monarchy.
5 – She joined the Conservative Party in 1996.
6 – Truss worked for Shell from 1996 t0 2000, during which time she qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1999.
7 – She was employed by Cable & Wireless in 2000 and rose to economic director before leaving in 2005.
8 – Truss served as the chair of the Lewisham Deptford Conservative Association from 1998 to 2000.
9 – She unsuccessfully contested the Greenwich London Borough Council elections in 1998 (for Vanbrugh ward) and 2002 (in Blackheath Westcombe).
10 – She was elected as a councillor for Eltham South in the Greenwich London Borough Council election on May 4, 2026.
11 – Under David Cameron as Conservative leader, Truss was added to the party’s ‘A List’.
12 – On September 4, 2012, Truss was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education, with responsibility for childcare and early learning, assessment, qualifications and curriculum reform, behaviour and attendance, and school food review.
13 – In a July 15, 2014 cabinet reshuffle, Truss was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, replacing Owen Paterson.
14 – On July 14, 2016, Truss was appointed as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor in Theresa May’s first ministry. She became the first woman to hold both positions and the first female Lord Chancellor in the thousand-year history of the office.
15 – On June 11, 2017, following the general election, she was moved to the position of Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
16 – She was promoted by Boris Johnson to the position of Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade. Following the resignation of Amber Rudd, Truss was additionally appointed Minister for Women and Equalities.
17 – On September 15, 2021, during a cabinet reshuffle, Johnson promoted Truss from International Trade Secretary to Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, thus becoming the second woman to hold the position after Margaret Beckett.
18 – On July 10, 2022, Truss announced her intention to run in the Conservative Party leadership election to replace Boris Johnson after the latter’s resignation.
19 – On September 5, 2022, Truss won the Conservative Party’s election as party leader, beating her rival, Sunak.
20 – On September 6, 2022, Liz Truss will be officially made the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, becoming the third female to occupy that position.
