UNITED KINGDOM: On Monday, the UK will find out who will be the country’s new prime minister. Liz Truss is the front-runner to succeed Boris Johnson and lead the nation as it struggles with an escalating cost-of-living crisis.
The Conservative Party announced on Friday that the results of the UK PM race will be announced on September 5 at 11:30 am GMT.
A faltering economy and 40-year high inflation will be handed over to the new PM.
According to reports from Whitehall, a list of options, including a freeze on energy prices, has been developed to assist struggling households.
Industry sources are growing more confident that the new prime minister would support initiatives to freeze the energy cap, the maximum price for domestic gas and electricity set every three months by regulator Ofgem. This wouldn’t necessarily need government funding up front in the beginning.
It comes after numerous meetings with the government, including those with ministers close to Liz Truss, the foreign secretary.
Liz Truss ahead of Rishi Sunak in the race
Within a week of starting office, Liz Truss, who is expected to win the battle, has promised to offer additional assistance to protect consumers.
Later this month, she wants to present an emergency budget that would include £30 billion in tax cuts, citing the UK’s high tax load as the cause of the country’s weak growth.
Former chancellor Sunak has made it clear he thinks he has lost, stating that his role “now is basically to assist a Conservative government.”
If Truss is elected prime minister, she will implement an energy plan within a week. To elect a new PM, the divided Conservative party must be reconciled.
The Queen will remain at Balmoral to appoint a new PM.
Beyond stating that she will temporarily eliminate green levies on energy bills and reverse the increase in National Insurance enacted during Johnson’s administration, Liz Truss has not yet provided any other information about her cost-of-living support strategy.
As chancellor, Sunak announced payments totaling £15 billion, including £400 payments for every household.
However, both candidates have stated that additional support will be needed due to increased cost projections over the summer.
The foreign secretary refused to specify on Sunday whether further aid would be given to everyone or just those in need, stating that she needed more time in office to work out the specifics of her strategy.
She acknowledged that removing the National Insurance increase would primarily benefit higher earnings, but insisted that it was appropriate because it would strengthen the economy as a whole.
While the Greens have proposed nationalising the UK’s five largest energy suppliers, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the SNP have all called on the government to freeze energy prices through multibillion-pound subsidies.
Liz Truss did not rule out a freeze on Sunday, but she has previously called it a “sticking plaster” and said that more has to be done to assist the UK to increase its domestic energy supplies.
Any further help, according to her, would need to work “hand in hand” with initiatives to promote nuclear energy, shale gas fracking, and increased North Sea oil and gas drilling.
Along with tax reductions, Liz Truss promised to create investment zones with few regulations and increase defence spending by the most in decades.
However, after a reaction from unions, Labour, and some Tories, she abandoned a plan to tie public sector pay to local living costs.
Despite receiving the highest support from Conservative MPs, Sunak has lagged Liz Truss in surveys of the party’s base.
Before the power transfer takes place on Tuesday, Johnson is scheduled to make a farewell speech.
Contrary to custom, the Queen will choose the new Tory leader at Balmoral Castle in Scotland instead of Buckingham Palace.
Also Read: Questions about Cost-of-living Policies Will Be Raised for Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak
