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Some 170,000 members of the British Conservative Party came together on Monday 5 September to elect a new party leader and, by extension, the new head of government. This follows the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July after a series of scandals. In the end, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Liz Truss (47) came out victorious, garnering 80,000 more votes (57%) than the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak (42).
The win didn’t come as a surprise for this Boris Johnson stalwart, whose lead was correctly predicted in the polls. Truss will carry the heavy burden of leadership during a major social and energy crisis in the United Kingdom, with household bills continuing to climb and inflation at more than 10%, a first since 1980. In her victory speech, Truss, who likes comparing herself to the former “Iron Lady”, Margaret Thatcher, announced that she intends to cut taxes.
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