It’s the end of a long race for power: two months after the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and in the midst of a cost of living crisis, the British will finally know on Monday who will succeed him, probably Liz Truss.
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The outcome of the vote, open to some 200,000 members of the Conservative Party, leaves little room for suspense as the head of diplomacy Liz Truss is ahead in the polls against former finance minister Rishi Sunak.
The 47-year-old minister, who remained loyal to Boris Johnson to the end when the resignations within the executive were counted by the dozens in early July, will become except for a dramatic change the fourth British Prime Minister since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the third woman to hold this post after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May in the history of the United Kingdom.
After the end of the membership vote on Friday evening, the announcement of the successor to Boris Johnson, forced to resign after a series of scandals and lies, is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. (11:30 GMT).
The new Downing Street tenant takes office in an explosive economic and social context, with inflation which exceeds 10% and is expected to rise considerably, and an exorbitant rise in energy bills which threatens families such as schools, hospitals and businesses.
Inflation and social unrest
Economic policy naturally found itself at the center of this long campaign, marked very to the right, but sometimes seemed disconnected from the dramatic worsening of the crisis during the summer.
Liz Truss seduced by promising massive tax cuts and taking a very tough tone against unions. For his part, Rishi Sunak, a wealthy former banker, lost points by advocating an economic realism far from “fairy tales” and was seen as a technocrat giving lessons unable to understand the difficulties of British households.
On Sunday, Ms. Truss assured the BBC that elected, she would act “from the first week” to help the British with their energy bills, refusing however to specify the concrete nature of the measures she intended to take.
She also stressed that she would present “within a month” a tax reform project to deal with the crisis.
If she has seduced the base of the party in power for 12 years in the United Kingdom, 52% of the British believe that she will be a poor or even terrible Prime Minister according to a recent YouGov poll. Not sure, therefore, that these vague promises are enough to calm the social discontent that has shaken the country like never since the Thatcher years (1979-1990).
The country experienced what has been dubbed a “summer of discontent”, with multiple strikes in transport, postal services, hospitals, criminal lawyers and other sectors.
Act fast
And this in a period of virtual power vacuum, with a resigning Prime Minister who was conspicuously absent, refusing to take action to relieve the British, missing important meetings and twice going on trips abroad with his family.
But while both Tory candidates have been hard at work pushing for ‘change’ after the scandal-ridden Johnson era, the former prime minister is already missing some of the Tory Party’s membership — who are more male, older and white than average. of the British.
Boris Johnson refused to publicly endorse either suitor and said in a farewell message in the Sunday Express on Sunday that it was time to “support the new leader with all our hearts”, saying they were both “more than capable” of the job.
However, he did not rule out a return to politics.
He will go on Tuesday to submit his resignation to Elizabeth II at her summer residence in Balmoral, Scotland, a first for the 96-year-old sovereign who has difficulty moving around and will not make the trip to London.
His successor will follow to become the 15th head of government in the monarch’s 70-year reign, before returning to London to deliver his first speech outside 10 Downing Street, form his government and face Labor opposition leader Keir on Wednesday. Starmer for the first time in Parliament.