She will become Britain’s fourth Tory prime minister in six years after beating Rishi Sunak in the bitter Tory leadership race that began after Boris Johnson was ousted by Tory MPs. The prime minister-elect is expected to announce plans to freeze energy prices on Thursday as she struggles to cope with an overwhelming surge during the worst economic crisis in a generation. She faces an uphill battle to win over Tory MPs as she inherits a deeply divided party trailing in the polls with some rebel supporters already said to be plotting her death. Truss won 81,326 votes (57.4%) of Tory members to the former chancellor’s 60,399 (42.6%), a narrower victory than many had expected. On Monday night loyal MPs and supporters celebrated the result, but the euphoria of victory will quickly give way to the harsh reality of the challenges ahead, with the country hit by a cost of living crisis and the economy on the brink of recession. Truss will unveil support for households and businesses later this week, with allies discussing a £100bn package that could include a freeze on energy bills. Finance ministry sources said that under the proposal funds could be provided by commercial banks and backed by government guarantees and added to consumers’ accounts over the long term. Truss used her victory speech at a central London conference center to say Tory beliefs in freedom, low taxes and personal responsibility “resonate with the British people”. He added: “During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a Conservative and I will govern as a Conservative. We have to show that we will succeed in the next two years.” He promised a “bold plan” to cut taxes and grow the economy, as well as a pledge to “tackle” rising energy bills and long-term energy supply, having already pledged to reverse a rise in national insurance and cut corporation tax. Significantly, she appeared to rule out an early general election, telling an audience in central London that she would “deliver a great victory for the Conservative party in 2024”, an acknowledgment that her party’s fortunes in the coming months look bleak. It follows a seven-week contest in which both campaigns traded bitter personal attacks and a vacuum at the top of government at a time when the public was looking for reassurance, leaving senior Tories fearing permanent damage to their electoral prospects. A recent YouGov poll found that 50% of Britons say they are disappointed that Truss will be the next prime minister, including a third (33%) who are “very disappointed”. This is far more than the 22% who say they are very or fairly satisfied. Johnson will hand in his resignation to the Queen at Balmoral on Tuesday with Truss visiting the monarch at her Highland residence shortly afterwards to confirm her appointment. The new prime minister will then return to London, where she will address the nation in a speech outside No 10 Downing Street, unless she is forced to go indoors due to forecast storms, before putting the finishing touches on her first cabinet. Kwasi Kwarteng, Truss’s closest cabinet ally, will become her chancellor and is also expected to confirm the appointments of Suella Braverman as home secretary and James Cleverly as foreign secretary. These appointments will mean that, for the first time, there will be no white men in the state’s four major offices. But her rival, Rishi Sunak, is not expected to be offered a job in her cabinet, a break from tradition where most failed leadership contenders have been offered posts. The former chancellor told the BBC that the cabinet was “not something I’m thinking about” with some allies suggesting he would prefer to remain on the back foot should the Truss leadership collapse. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Priti Patel has announced she will step down as home secretary to return to the backbenches, a move that will look like an attempt to avoid the embarrassment of being sacked. Cabinet minister Nigel Adams and Tory party co-leader Ben Elliott also announced their resignations. A symbolic expected appointment is that of Jake Berry, the chairman of the MPs’ Northern Research Group, who is closely linked to the position of party chairman, tasked with holding the “red wall”. Truss has come under pressure not to appoint a loyalist cabinet to try to unite the party. But allies have already rejected such a move, suggesting it would mean giving jobs to those who have openly criticized her throughout the leadership campaign. “She would appoint people who did not support her. People who very publicly said her ideas were crap and that she was incompetent,” said one cabinet minister. Although new prime ministers generally expect a rebound in the polls, any political honeymoon is likely to be short-lived, with a host of thorny issues such as the prospect of an autumn of strikes, the NHS and ambulance services on their knees, the conflict in Ukraine not shows signs of easing and an ongoing row with Brussels over how to implement Brexit in Northern Ireland. However, Tras’s first days in office will be dominated by her plans to tackle the energy crisis with Kwarteng signaling on Monday that she will let borrowing rise in the short term and prioritize tax cuts for the wealthy over redistribution. “Given the severity of the crisis we are facing, there will need to be some fiscal easing to help people through the winter,” he said. The would-be chancellor claimed Britain could afford to borrow more and that among the G7 only Germany had a lower debt-to-GDP ratio, even though that would mean suspending the fiscal rules Truss had promised Tory members that he would observe. Senior Tories lined up for Trus cabinet appointments have been told “in no uncertain terms” not to criticize the idea, first mooted by Labour, that energy bills could be frozen. Industry sources said they believed a “tariff deficit fund”, first mooted by ScottishPower earlier this year, could be the preferred option to help households. Under the proposals, commercial banks would put cash into the government treasury, which suppliers could then draw on to freeze customers’ accounts. The cost of the scheme will then be paid back over 10 to 15 years through a charge on bills or through taxation. However, this option could cost more than £100bn.
