In her first speech as Prime Minister in Downing Street, she pledged to be “hands on” in urgently tackling the energy crisis with plans to freeze bills expected within days as her survival in No 10 depends on them. Truss is expected to announce plans to freeze energy bills at around £2,500 a year until 2024 in the first major act of her premiership – but she is unlikely to recover the cost through customers’ future bills, leaving the taxpayer to collect. Within moments of taking office, Truss was finalizing her cabinet, with close ally Kwasi Kwarteng appointed chancellor, Suella Braverman, who stood against her in the leadership contest, taking over from Priti Patel at the Home Office and James Cleverly was promoted to Secretary of State. Her closest political ally, Thérèse Coffey, is taking on Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab after he described Truss’s tax plans as an “election suicide note”. He also undertakes the duties of secretary of health. The appointments mean that for the first time in history none of the state’s major offices are held by white men. But Tory MPs and green campaigners have been alarmed by new business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has slammed the “climate alarmist”, who has been given direct responsibility for energy and climate change after struggling to find a dedicated minister to fill the role. Alok Sharma has been reappointed as the president of Cop26, the UN climate change conference. Truss rejected calls to appoint a unity cabinet to bring the party together after the surprise leadership contest sacked all of her rival Rishi Sunak’s key backers at cabinet level, including Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, Steve Barclay and George Eustice. while the former Chancellor himself ruled out taking on a role. Instead, he appointed loyalists including Ben Wallace, who remained as defense secretary, Wendy Morton as the first female Tory leader and Brandon Lewis, who admitted the government would be willing to break the law with “specific and limited ” way. as Secretary of Justice. Penny Mordaunt, who was beaten by Truss and made it to the bottom two in the leadership contest, has been awarded Commons leader, while Johnson stalwart Kit Malthouse will become education secretary. Nadine Dorries has resigned as culture secretary and is expected to go to the Lords, triggering a by-election, with Michelle Donelan taking over her job. Jake Berry, chairman of the Northern Research Group, has been appointed Tory party chairman in a move to shore up support in the “red wall” areas, while Simon Clarke is the new tier secretary. Anne Marie Trevelyan has been appointed transport secretary, with former leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch for trade, Chloe Smith the new work and pensions secretary and Ranil Jayawardena becoming environment secretary. Truss now faces the difficult task of winning over disillusioned Tory MPs, who she will rely on to push her energy package through the Commons, inheriting a deeply divided party that is trailing Labor in the polls ahead of a lower cabinet reshuffle. tier on Wednesday. After narrowly avoiding heavy rain outside Downing Street, Truss told the assembled Tory MPs, aides and the world’s media: “We must not be daunted by the challenges we face, however strong the storm. I know the British people are stronger. “Our country was built by people who can do things. We have enormous reserves of talent, energy, determination. I am confident that together we can weather the storm.” The £400 universal handout given to households this autumn is expected to be factored in, so the energy price cap will effectively remain at around the current rate of £1,971. Conservative sources confirmed wholesale gas prices could be capped, meaning the new prime minister’s plan would also help thousands of small businesses on the brink of collapse. However, the plan, which could cost up to £100 billion, is expected to be paid for through additional borrowing, after Kwarteng called for some “fiscal relaxation” given the scale of the financial crisis. Tory aides suggested the plans had not yet been “nailed down”. 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. In her speech, Truss promised to take “action today and every day” to transform the country into what she called a “nation of ambition”, touching on plans for major economic reform. Tory insiders suggested a political blitz would begin in the next three weeks before the Conservative party gathers in Birmingham for their annual conference. He will have to navigate an overwhelming interior with rising inflation and energy bills, the prospect of an autumn of strikes, the NHS and ambulance services on their knees and the conflict in Ukraine which shows no sign of easing. Her first call to a world leader was with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president. Truss became prime minister after meeting the Queen at Balmoral, where she was asked to form a government following the resignation of Boris Johnson, who was ousted by Tory MPs earlier this summer following a series of scandals. She immediately returned to Downing Street by private jet for her first address to the nation in her new role, narrowly avoiding a storm that initially appeared to have forced her inside to deliver her speech. Johnson used his own No 10 exit speech to call on the Tory party to unite behind Truss, but could not hide his bitterness at the way he was ousted. The outgoing prime minister gave his strongest hint yet of a planned return to the political frontline as he likened himself to a Roman statesman called back for a final battle. Friends, including loyal MPs, said Johnson was holding out hope of returning to No 10 if Liz Truss quits before the next election. A Tory spokesman said: “Oh well, he wants another exit. They’re waiting to see how Liz gets on, but if she doesn’t do their bidding, Boris will be dusted.” But others have advised against him planning a comeback. A friend of Johnson said: “He is delusional. He needs therapy if he thinks what the country needs right now is Boris back at No 10.” Johnson spent his final hour in No 10 eating bacon sandwiches with his wife, Carrie, and some of his closest aides and MPs, including Doris and Rees-Mogg, who brought along his eldest son. Some came leaving gifts for Johnson and asking for selfies. In a message to Tory MPs, Johnson said it was “time for politics to end” and said they should support Truss and deliver for the country. “This is what the people of this country want, this is what they need and this is what they deserve.” He added: “I am now like one of those booster rockets that have fulfilled their function and will now gently re-enter the atmosphere and launch invisibly into some remote and dark corner of the Pacific.”
