Liz Truss to become UK’s third woman PM

UK: Liz Truss, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, was named winner on Monday in the contest to replace the scandal-plagued Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and the country’s Prime Minister. The party said Truss won the votes of around 57% of Conservative members, compared with about 43% for ex-Treasury Chief Rishi Sunak.

Truss, 47, will become Britain’s third female Prime Minister, after Thatcher, who governed from 1979 to 1990, and Theresa May, who held office from 2016 to 2019.

Conservative Party members have embraced Truss’ vows to slash taxes and red tape and keep up Britain’s staunch support for Ukraine. Some see echoes of the Iron Lady — as Thatcher was known — in Truss’ vision of a “network of liberty” binding democracies around the world.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for getting elected as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

In the congratulatory message, PM Modi said under her leadership, the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will be further strengthened.

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak on Monday asked the Conservative Party members to unite behind the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Liz Truss, minutes after she defeated him in the leadership contest to succeed Boris Johnson, to steer the country through difficult times.

Sunak, 42, soon after his defeat, took to Twitter to thank everyone who voted for him. “I’ve said throughout that the Conservatives are one family. It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times,” the British Indian former Chancellor tweeted. – THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS,PTI