The Queen Truss received at the Royal Castle of Balmoral in Scotland.
(Photo: AP)
balmoral Liz Truss is the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The previous foreign secretary was appointed to succeed Boris Johnson by Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Tuesday. The palace released a photo of the meeting. Truss then made her way to her seat of government in Downing Street, London, together with her husband Hugh O’Leary. There she was to give her first speech as Prime Minister in the afternoon.
She is expected to then announce the key members of her cabinet. Johnson had previously been formally dismissed from office by the Queen at Balmoral Castle.
Johnson bid farewell to the nation with a speech in the morning. He promised his successor “nothing but energetic support”. At the same time, the 58-year-old indicated that he was dissatisfied with his forced exit. Political observers do not rule out that Johnson is already planning his return to the top of government. Johnson’s wife Carrie and hundreds of staff, MPs, photographers and reporters had gathered for the speech in Downing Street, which was cordoned off.
The day before, after a week-long internal party selection process, Truss had been named party leader and thus also designated prime minister. She was able to prevail against ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak in the vote among Tory members, but much narrower than expected.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The Queen traditionally stays at her Scottish country estate, Balmoral Castle, from mid-July to mid-September. The fact that she did not receive the politicians at Buckingham Palace in London for the first time has to do with the mobility problems of the 96-year-old monarch, who has now experienced three women and twelve men in Downing Street during her 70-year reign.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on Liz Truss and the change of government:
Truss is expected to outline the outlines of a plan to cushion the skyrocketing rise in the cost of living. In Great Britain, too, there are fears that the energy costs that have skyrocketed as a result of the Ukraine war could put millions of households in financial difficulties.
According to a report in the tabloid “Sun”, Truss therefore wants to freeze gas and electricity prices – a project that, according to the report, is likely to cost the British state at least 40 billion pounds (around 46.5 billion euros). At the same time, if Truss sticks to its announcements that it will cut taxes, it will be a difficult balancing act. Add to this the problems of the chronically underfunded NHS health service and massive public sector dissatisfaction with wages and salaries.
The support that Johnson’s successor enjoys within her own party and within her group is by no means unqualified. This increases the pressure on Truss to immediately make a positive impression on voters.
More: Peter Mandelson: “I fear we are now entering an era of decline”