TIES BUILT ON TRUSS

The United Kingdom, one of the world’s oldest functioning democracies, on September 6 witnessed the completion of an unusual internal political process: the ruling Conservatives elected ex-foreign secretary Liz Truss as the UK’s next Prime Minister—the fourth in six years.

- GAITRI I. KUMAR

It all started two months ago, when over 60 cabinet colleagues of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned en masse, forcing his resignation on July 7. Through several rounds of voting in later weeks, Conservative Party MPs zeroed in on two candidates for the post of party leader: Rishi Sunak, ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Truss. Through the hottest summer Britain has experienced in 138 years, the two then competed for majority support of the party membership. The contest was close: Sunak initially enjoyed a good lead, but Truss’s promise to introduce lower taxes, stabilise prices and navigate the British economy to calmer waters seems to have had greater appeal— about 57 per cent plumped for her.

Truss will lead the party into the next election in 2024. Her immediate priority, though, will be to fulfil her promise of drawing up a ‘plan’—within a week—to tackle the worst cost of living crisis the UK has seen since the 1950s. She has promised to ‘cap’ the price of gas and electricity and safeguard the British economy through the slowdown, while protecting local businesses and services struggling with post-pandemic recovery.