Liz Truss has been named the UK’s next prime minister – but what happens next?

Written by Lauren Geall

As Stylist’s digital writer, Lauren Geall writes on topics including mental health, wellbeing and women’s issues. She’s also a big fan of houseplants and likes to dabble in film and TV from time-to-time. You can find her on Twitter at @laurenjanegeall.

The two-month battle for the Conservative party leadership has come to a close, with Liz Truss coming out on top.

Liz Truss will replace Boris Johnson in Number 10 as the UK’s next prime minister, it has been announced.

After almost two months of campaigning, the foreign secretary came out above her opponent Rishi Sunak in a vote by the Conservative party’s membership. The result, which was announced by Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, hasn’t come as a surprise; Truss has consistently polled higher than Sunak over the last couple of weeks.

However, her victory presents her with a lot to do. With the cost of living crisis only getting worse and the war in Ukraine set to continue indefinitely, Truss will have more than a few challenges to tackle when she officially takes over.

Even if you don’t tend to follow politics, it’s safe to say what happens today is going to have far-reaching repercussions for the next year or so. So, with that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about what’s going to happen next.

When will the new prime minister take over? 

Liz Truss may have won, but she won’t become the prime minister straight away – that will happen tomorrow, when Boris Johnson and the prime minister-elect will travel to Balmoral to meet the Queen for the official handover of government.

This is a break from tradition – during her 70-year reign, the Queen has always had an audience with the new prime minister at Buckingham Palace – but this time she will stay in Scotland.  

What else will happen? 

After meeting with the Queen and Boris Johnson in Scotland on Tuesday, the newly-appointed prime minister will travel straight back to London to deliver their first speech as leader outside Number 10.

They will then start to make their new cabinet appointments for top roles including foreign secretary and chancellor of the exchequer, as well as make and receive phone calls to leaders around the world, who are likely to offer their congratulations.

Finally, on Wednesday, the new prime minister is likely to host their first cabinet meeting, before taking part in their first PMQs at midday. 

What issues will the new prime minister need to address? 

The cost of living crisis 

The most pressing challenge that the new prime minister needs to address will be the cost of living crisis – and in particular, the huge surges in the cost of energy bills.

With the price cap set to rise from £1,971 to £3,459 in October and costs set to rise even higher later in the winter, experts are calling on the new prime minister to take immediate action to ensure that households don’t have to choose between staying warm and eating this winter.

Possible action could include targeted help for the most vulnerable, scrapping VAT on energy bills and freezing the energy price cap so the October rise doesn’t come into effect.

Reports have suggested Liz Truss would consider the latter option – but the only move she has committed to so far is making an announcement on how to help people with their bills.  

The war in Ukraine

The ongoing war in Ukraine has been a key focus for Boris Johnson, and the new prime minister will likely take on a similar approach when they take control of Number 10.

Indeed, Liz Truss has already said that her first correspondence as prime minister would be to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and she is expected to take a trip to Kyiv during her first few weeks as prime minister.

However, with no end to the war in sight, it’s going to become tougher to provide this support with the cost of living and energy crises raging on in the background. The new prime minister will have to work out a way to prioritise both of these issues while managing any discontent from their MPs.      

The NHS and social care 

It’s no secret that our healthcare system is struggling – and the new prime minister will have to put in plenty of work to deal with these challenges.

Indeed, as Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation told Nursing Notes: “The new prime minister will inherit an NHS in its worst state in living memory. There are 105,000 vacancies. A&Es are overcrowded. Around one in seven hospital beds are occupied by patients who can’t be discharged. Some patients have had to wait over 40 hours for an ambulance.  

“Care is being put at risk by neglected buildings due to underinvestment. And then there’s the waiting lists, which stretch into the millions across elective care, mental health and community care.”

In a hustings earlier on in the leadership contest, Liz Truss said she would prioritise funding for social care over the NHS by diverting the £13 billion of funding earmarked to deal with the NHS backlog to social care services – but experts have warned doing so would put the NHS in an even worse position.  

Images: Getty

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