Posted at 5:00 a.m.
(London) This is not a surprise, far from it. As predicted by the polls, Liz Truss became the new leader of the British Conservative Party on Monday, de facto succeeding Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Aged 47, the one who was hitherto Minister of Foreign Affairs won with 81,326 votes (57%) against 66,399 (43% against) for her opponent, the former Minister of Finance Rishi Sunak, in a vote held with some 200,000 members of the right-wing political formation, which still holds a comfortable majority in the British Parliament.
At the same time, she becomes the third woman to lead the United Kingdom, after Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and Theresa May (2016-2019).
But his time in Downing Street will not be a honeymoon. Mme Truss took power in a difficult, even explosive, economic context, while the country faced high inflation (more than 10%, unheard of for 40 years) and a historic crisis in the cost of living, which is manifested mainly by a spectacular rise in the prices of gas and electricity, as well as a social discontent that is growing with successive strikes.
In his first official speech, Mr.me Truss wanted to be reassuring by promising “bold measures to reduce taxes and grow the economy”, slogans repeated many times during his campaign.
Then she made a more specific commitment to the issue of the moment: “I will tackle the energy crisis by taking care of people’s energy bills, but also by taking care of the long-term difficulties of supply in energy,” she said. No more details, although, according to British media, the new Prime Minister could soon announce a freeze on energy bills, a plan “which would cost billions”, according to the BBC.
But these beautiful words do not seem to convince everyone.
According to a YouGov poll published two days ago, 52% of Britons believe that Liz Trusss would make a “bad or awful prime minister”, and this is also what we heard on Monday in the streets of London.
Sitting on a bench at dinnertime, Steve Townrow, late 50s, agrees the ‘timing’ isn’t ideal for Mme Truss, who will inevitably lose feathers during his stay in Downing Street.
“She really takes a shitty job,” he says. With everything going on right now, the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine, post-Brexit, post-COVID, she just can’t pull it off. »
PHOTO: KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Demonstrators celebrate the departure of Boris Johnson, in Westminster, on the sidelines of the Conservative Party rally.
Same story with Thérèse Montaigu, who answers us in a pronounced Cockney accent that her name does not suggest.
“I don’t expect anything good from this woman,” says the sixty-something. There’s something about her that doesn’t inspire confidence in me. I want to give her a chance, but in my opinion, she will be like the others. The rich will stay rich and the poor will stay poor. »
With a bit of luck, maybe it will make us less ashamed than its predecessor.
Therese Montague
meet the queen
A Conservative MP since 2010, Liz Truss is a champion of free trade and an outspoken anti-unionist, often described as an emulator of Margaret Thatcher. This former Liberal Democrat activist, who became “right-wing” over the years, held various ministries (Environment, Trade, Justice) before ending up in Foreign Affairs under the leadership of Boris Johnson, with whom she remained in solidarity until ‘at the end.
PHOTO GERALD PENNY, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Margaret Thatcher, UK’s first female Prime Minister, 1979-1990
The latter was also quick to congratulate his successor on Monday, calling on the party to unity, after a campaign that brought to light the divisions in the political formation.
Johnson must present his resignation to Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday at the royal summer residence of Balmoral, Scotland, a first for the 96-year-old sovereign, who has difficulty moving around and will not make the trip to London.
PHOTO CHRIS RADBURN, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Boris Johnson
Liz Truss will follow suit and officially become the 15e prime minister in 70 years for the monarch, before returning to the capital to deliver her first official speech and form her government.
It remains to be seen how long his time in Downing Street will last.
Mme Truss on Monday promised a “big victory” for his party in the legislative elections scheduled for 2024. But after 12 years in power, the Tories are showing signs of fatigue, and the repeated scandals during the reign of “BoJo” have not nothing to help their credibility. The party is currently trailing in the polls, ten points behind Keir Starmer’s Labor, but nothing says that Liz Truss will have the stuff to raise the bar in such a complicated context, which is not likely to improve in the coming months.
“I suspect she will be very similar to Boris Johnson, in that she promises everything but does not deliver much,” concludes Christopher Stafford, professor of politics at the University of Nottingham. She has no grand vision or strategy for the UK. “She just wants to be prime minister. Like Johnson, do not expect substantial or consistent policies. Truss will probably go in the direction the wind is blowing…”
With Agence France-Presse