London: Liz Truss has become the UK’s new prime minister after meeting the Queen at Balmoral, where she was asked to form a government after the resignation of Boris Johnson.
Truss, 47, is the UK’s 56th prime minister and its third female leader.
Her Twitter profile description has also been updated to: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party. MP for South West Norfolk.
She is expected to return immediately to Downing Street and will give an address to the nation at about 4pm, before beginning to appoint her cabinet, reports The Guardian.
One of her first significant acts as prime minister is expected to be an announcement on plans to tackle the energy price crisis, with allies understood to be discussing a £100bn package to freeze bills.
The package could come as soon as Thursday and is expected to be paid via extra borrowing, rather than a windfall tax on suppliers as Labour has proposed, the report said.
Key cabinet appointments are expected to be made later on Tuesday with junior roles following over the coming days.
Truss defeated former finance minister Rishi Sunak after a six-week-long campaign.
In her campaign, Truss promised to cut taxes on day one if elected and bring down rising inflation in the country. She also promised not to introduce new taxes and that she will also scrap the corporate tax which is slated to increase from 19% to 25% in 2023.
