Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak or current Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will be announced as the new UK prime minister later on Monday.
Dan Kitwood / Staff / Stringer / Getty Images
LONDON – The UK’s next Prime Minister will be announced on Monday after a tense and sometimes bitter leadership contest within the ruling Conservative Party.
The announcement is expected at 12:30pm London time and will be made by Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, a group of Conservative Members of Parliament who is not a government minister.
The leadership election begins when incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he will resign on 7 July. It came after a wave of ministers and supporters resigned, with many expressing a lack of confidence in their party leadership.
Johnson has stayed on as caretaker Prime Minister while the party decides between candidates.
He has yet to formally resign, as he must first attend an audience with Queen Elizabeth II to formally inform her that he will be stepping down.
Sunak or Truss?
The next prime minister will be current Foreign Minister Liz Truss or former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, after the pair reached the final stage of an eight-candidate leadership contest.
Truss has been a solid leader in the Conservative Party competition.
Truss and Sunak have gone head-to-head at 12 campaign events over the past eight weeks to try to win over party members.
They gave their views on Mandate of the Bank of EnglandTax cuts and controversial plans to deport migrants to Rwandaas well as the UK The cost of living crisis is getting worse.
The results are selected exclusively by members of the Conservative Party – that’s around 180,000 people according to the most recent figures paying to be a member of the party, out of 65 million people living in the UK
Voting was conducted as a postal vote, ending September 2.
Next step
After the most popular candidate is announced, the formal process to appoint a prime minister begins.
It will include a trip to Balmoral Castle in Scotland for an official “kiss the hand” meeting with the queen, where the monarch demands a new administration be established.
This is a break from tradition, as her 15th prime minister will be the first not to be officially appointed to the queen’s London home, Buckingham Palace.
The 96-year-old man is said to have begun to experience “volume mobility issues“as announced by Buckingham Palace on 9 May, could explain the choice for the new prime minister to travel with her rather than making the 500-mile journey to London on her own.
A ‘gift budget’ from the new Prime Minister?
The cost of living crisis is likely to be top of the agenda for those moving to 10 Downing Street, as the UK’s energy bills 80% increase in October and investors warn Inflation can go up to 22% next year.
Next Prime Minister will help with energy costsAlan Custis, head of UK equities at Lazard Asset Management, predicted on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” last week.
“As a prime minister, you want to create a honeymoon,” Custis said, “and maybe a general election.”
“Regardless of which candidate joins, there is a possibility of receiving a donation as soon as they join,” he said.
