Liz Truss now officially the new prime minister of the UK after ‘kissing of hands’ with Queen in Balmoral

Liz Truss beat Rishi Sunak to number 10 yesterday
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Liz Truss has officially replaced Boris Johnson as prime minister after she was invited by her majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, to form a new government.

Liz Truss is now officially the new prime minister after she met with the Queen in Balmoral on Tuesday afternoon.

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In a result that had a narrower margin than many anticipated, Ms. Truss defeated fellow Conservative leader candidate Rishi Sunak after  receiving more than 57% of the vote.

This was the smallest margin of victory in a Conservative leadership election since members were given a vote.

What was the margin of victory?

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 05: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss delivers an acceptance speech at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster after being announced the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest in London, United Kingdom on September 05, 2022. Liz Truss will be appointed as Britain's new prime minister on Tuesday after Boris Johnson visits the Queen at Balmoral to officially resign his position. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau - Pool/Getty Images)LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 05: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss delivers an acceptance speech at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster after being announced the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest in London, United Kingdom on September 05, 2022. Liz Truss will be appointed as Britain's new prime minister on Tuesday after Boris Johnson visits the Queen at Balmoral to officially resign his position. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau - Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 05: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss delivers an acceptance speech at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster after being announced the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest in London, United Kingdom on September 05, 2022. Liz Truss will be appointed as Britain's new prime minister on Tuesday after Boris Johnson visits the Queen at Balmoral to officially resign his position. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau - Pool/Getty Images)

Liz Truss was victorious over Rishi Sunak with 57% of votes from Conservative Party members.

This equates to 81,326 votes to Sunak’s 60,399.

What did Liz Truss say about Boris Johnson?

Following confirmation of the election result,Liz Truss gave a victory speech in which she started by thanking outgoing PM Boris Johnson.

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She also paid tribute to the other candidates who had joined her in the leadership race, including Rishi Sunak.

Liz Truss said: “I’d like to pay tribute to my fellow candidates, particularly Rishi Sunak. It’s been a hard-fought campaign.

“I think we have shown the depth and breadth of talent in our Conservative party. I also want to thank our outgoing leader, my friend, Boris Johnson. Boris, you got Brexit done.

“You crushed Jeremy Corbyn. You rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin. You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.”

Deliver, deliver, deliver

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Looking ahead to the coming months, Liz Truss went on in her speech to outline everything she wanted to deliver on, including the energy crisis which continues to affect millions in the UK.

She said: “During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a conservative and I will govern as a conservative. And my friends, we need to show that we will deliver over the next two years.

“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. And I will deliver on the National Health Service.

“But we all will deliver for all for our country, and I will make sure that we use all the fantastic talents of the Conservative Party: our brilliant Members of Parliament and peers, our fantastic councillors. Our MS, our MSPs, all of our councillors and activists and members right across our country.

“Because my friends, I know that we will deliver, we will deliver, we will deliver and we... and we... and we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024. Thank you.”

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