After defeating Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership race, Liz Truss was chosen as the
country’s new leader on Monday, September 5. Truss succeeded Theresa May and Margaret
Thatcher was the country’s third female prime minister (Conservative, 2016-19).
Boris Johnson, who will formally submit his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday, will be
replaced by the 47-year-old. On Tuesday itself, Liz Truss will take the oath of office as the new
prime minister of the UK.
On Tuesday afternoon, Liz Truss is anticipated to deliver his inaugural speech as prime minister
outside 10 Downing Street.
What will the makeup of her Cabinet be?
Before she hosts her first Cabinet meeting and takes questions from the legislature on
Wednesday, the ministers’ selections are expected to be finalized.
According to a Monday article in The Guardian, Liz Truss would not offer Sunak, a former finance
minister and competitor for her leadership, a position in her Cabinet. The article further stated
that there will be no white men in the important Cabinet positions.
According to the publication, Truss would select Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, Suella
Braverman as home secretary, and James Cleverly as foreign secretary.
Liz Truss will have a mountain of work to do as soon as he takes office because the UK is currently
experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades.
Energy prices are skyrocketing, a recession is imminent, and inflation is out of control and at a
40-year high of 10.1%. The worst is yet to come, according to experts.
According to Britain’s energy regulator, starting in October, average annual power bills will
increase by 80% to 3,549 pounds ($4,188). Millions of households will experience fuel poverty
as a result. Companies are also in danger.
Notably, despite concerns that increased borrowing would worsen inflation, Truss has offered
tax cuts to spur growth.
EU implores Liz Truss to uphold the Brexit agreement.
The EU has urged the incoming British prime minister, Liz Truss, to follow the Brexit agreement
while taking a broader view of Britain’s relationship with Europe.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted her congratulations
and referred to common problems including climate change and the Russian invasion of
Ukraine. In the upcoming days, Truss is expected to receive a call from von der Leyen.
I look forward to a positive partnership, in full observance of our agreements, she remarked.
A healthy relationship between the two countries is crucial from a strategic standpoint,
according to Maro Efovi, the top official in charge of relations with the UK within the EU. In full
observance of our agreements, “I am ready to engage actively and constructively with my new
UK interlocutor to build such a collaboration,” according to The Guardian.
A few weeks after Truss claimed she wasn’t sure if Macron was a “friend or foe” to the Tories at
a hustings event in August, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, lauded Truss and said
that “the British nation is our partner.”
Macron tweeted, “Congratulations to Liz Truss on her election.” The British people and the
British nations are our friends and allies. Let’s keep collaborating to protect our common
interests.
Behind the scenes, EU officials are not hopeful that their relationship with Truss, the creator of a
a bill that would annul key clauses of the Northern Ireland protocol and potentially start a trade
war will get better.
According to an EU ambassador, there is optimism on this side that things will improve and that
the relationship will become more favorable, but no one is holding their breath.
According to the diplomat, Truss’ reliance on members of the eurosceptic Conservative
the parliamentary party did not bode well for her ability to achieve accords.
They said, “Considering where Liz Truss received her backing, I don’t really anticipate her to
have that much leeway. But if I’m wrong, please tell me.”
Sources predict that Truss will handle EU relations differently after he is at No. 10.
Given that she was the foreign secretary who advanced the [Northern Ireland] bill before the
summer, one EU diplomat remarked, “Obviously the reservations that were there earlier
remain.” From the standpoint of the EU, there is always a window of opportunity with the
incoming prime minister because the EU will be amenable to discussions and negotiations.
Her readiness to work with the EU will be put to the test when Truss is requested to attend a
summit of European leaders in October. Tuesday will see Truss take office as prime minister.
She will be invited to discuss the founding of the European Political Community, a pan-European organization entrusted with boosting security and other relationships between the
European countries.
Truss is most known in Moscow for her February meeting with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign
minister. Her comments were criticized by Lavrov, who described them as “just slogans blasted
from the tribunes.
