Liz Truss set to become Britain’s new leader as Boris Johnson bids farewell
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will officially be appointed prime minister by Queen Elizabeth later Tuesday after a short ceremony at the monarch’s Balmoral estate in Scotland.
Shortly before Truss becomes prime minister at lunchtime, outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson will officially tender his resignation to the monarch. Johnson decided to step down following a wave of resignations triggered by a series of scandals that cast his integrity into question.
Speaking Tuesday morning as he left his official residence as prime minister for the last time, Johnson listed his achievements in office including Brexit, the speedy vaccine rollout and prompt supply of weapons to Ukraine, “an action that may very well have helped change the course of the biggest European war for 80 years.”
Addressing the energy crisis caused in large part by Russia’s war in Ukraine, he said, “Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis. This country will endure it and we will win.”
“And if Putin thinks that he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people then he is utterly deluded,” Johnson added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking after her victory on Monday, Truss said, “I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply.”
She also paid a warm tribute to Johnson, noting his achievement of completing Brexit in 2020 and also his unwavering support for Ukraine.
Johnson and Truss are having to travel to Scotland, where the 96-year-old monarch is currently on vacation. Buckingham Palace officials could not guarantee the queen would be able travel to London due to her ongoing mobility issues.
Truss is well known in the Indo-Pacific region, and has cultivated many contacts during her previous role as international trade secretary.
She has been a strong advocate of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific and has opposed China’s attempts to change the regional status quo by force and coercion.
On foreign policy, most commentators think she will adopt a similar posture to Johnson, who championed Ukrainian sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression. She is also committed to boosting defense spending to 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2030.
On the domestic front, in the coming days Truss will address the issue of rising energy prices and is expected to freeze gas and electricity prices for British consumers after steep increases sparked by the war in Ukraine.
Truss won the leadership by campaigning on a manifesto of tax cuts and deregulation, but there are concerns these policies could lead to higher inflation and unsustainable debt levels, according to some experts.