Eagerly awaited on the cost of living crisis, Liz Truss is preparing to be officially appointed Prime Minister by the Queen and to enter Downing Street on Tuesday to replace Boris Johnson, who has promised her his “fervent” support.
Posted at 6:54 a.m.
Updated at 7:03 a.m.
At the end of the morning, the outgoing head of government arrived at Balmoral Castle, the summer residence of Elizabeth II, to officially present his resignation.
The 96-year-old sovereign will receive Liz Truss a few moments later to ask her to form a government, in a particularly difficult period for the United Kingdom, faced with a historic economic and social crisis. It will become the 15e Queen’s Prime Minister.
PHOTO DANIEL LEAL, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
Liz Truss
The handover is taking place at Balmoral, not at Buckingham Palace in London as is traditional, due to the Queen’s mobility issues.
“It’s over, friends”: in a brief speech in front of Downing Street in the early morning, the outgoing leader praised his own record in front of a crowd of supporters and collaborators. He compared himself to a “rocket having accomplished its mission” and re-entering the atmosphere. “I will offer this government my most fervent support,” he assured.
Exit the Brexit hero: after three years and 44 days, barely more than Theresa May, whom he replaced in 2019, Boris Johnson left what he called “the best job in the world”, after a series of scandals having triggered dozens of resignations in his close entourage at the beginning of July.
Governing as a “conservative”
Elected by 57% of some 142,000 voting members of the Conservative Party, against 43% for his rival Rishi Sunak, the former finance minister, Liz Truss, 47, until now foreign minister, must return to London to address the British in the afternoon.
She promised on Monday to govern “like a Conservative”, to put in place “a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy” and to beat Labor in the legislative elections scheduled for early 2025.
Under pressure to help millions of Britons facing skyrocketing energy bills, she said she wanted to tackle “the energy crisis by (dealing) with people’s energy bills, but also by (dealing with) long-term energy supply difficulties”.
Third female Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and Theresa May (2016-2019), the announcement of her government on Tuesday will be a first test for Mme Truss, who campaigned far right.
Diversity
His finance minister is expected to be Kwasi Kwarteng, 47, hitherto energy secretary, a supporter like Mme Truss of a smaller state and a more deregulated economy.
Suella Braverman, 42, legal adviser to the government and initially candidate for the post of prime minister, is approached for the interior ministry. Very on the right, she will inherit the file of the thousands of irregular migrants arriving on the British coasts, that the one who preceded her wanted to send to Rwanda.
James Cleverly, 53, education minister after serving as secretary of state for European affairs, is expected to move to foreign affairs, and Ben Wallace would remain at the defense ministry.
Mr. Kwarteng is of Ghanaian origin, Mr.me Braverman is of Indian descent, and Mr. Cleverly’s mother was from Sierra Leone, a diversity unheard of in these key positions.
First announcements to try to stem the economic crisis are expected probably Thursday. After opposing it for most of her campaign, Liz Truss could announce an energy price freeze, with still unclear outlines, to help households and businesses, according to British media.
Mme Truss, who advocates controversial tax cuts to boost growth and a tighter government, will have a lot to do to bring together a divided Conservative party, in power for 12 years.
Many MPs preferred Rishi Sunak, who was more nuanced and considered better able to manage the crisis. Calls for unity have multiplied, led by Boris Johnson who asked the Conservatives to “support it 100%”.
When announcing his victory, Mr.me Truss paid tribute to his “friend”. “Boris, you got Brexit done, you crushed Jeremy Corbyn (former Labor leader), you deployed the (anti-COVID-19) vaccine and you stood up” to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine, she listed.
After leaving Downing Street, Boris Johnson remains an MP. He said nothing about his future intentions.