Liz Truss – live: New Tory leader to be announced as frontrunner ‘considering freezing bills’

Boris Johnson is finally stepping down as prime minister after nearly three tumultuous years in power.

The Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP is being banished to the back benches, for now at least, after both candidates to replace him – Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – ruled out giving him a cabinet job.

But Mr Johnson himself, never one to shy away from the limelight, recently refused to rule out some form of politcal “comeback”.

And there has already been some speculation that he could have another “Trump-style” tilt at the Tory leadership in the future.

Much like Donald Trump, his political career to date has been littered with gaffes – some more catastrophic than others.

From insulting entire cities, countries and cultures, the Etonian schoolboy has offended many during his time in the limelight.

Here The Independent looks back at just some of Mr Johnson’s most damaging and humiliating blunders.

He’s clearly not in the Churchill or Thatcher first class, and his personal flaws and precipitate fall from power means he’s demoted below the likes of Blair and Wilson in the second division. However, Brexit and his election success put him above May and Cameron, writes Sean O’Grady.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has urged Boris Johnson’s successor to immediately introduce a “Covid-style” support package to help families facing poverty because of soaring energy bills.

The Labour mayor said the next PM – whether Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak wins the Tory leadership contest on Monday – must understand the scale of intervention needed over the cost of living crisis.

“With the spiralling cost of living already hitting those on lower incomes the hardest, it’s essential that the government take urgent action to help make ends meet,” Mr Khan told The Independent.

Adam Forrest reports.

Lord Harrington, who was appointed refugees minister in the wake of the war in Ukraine, has quit the government before a new leader takes over.

In government since March, Lord Harrington stressed his resignation is no reflection on either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak and he instead feels it is the right time to leave a “temporary” position.

Boris Johnson was among those to pay tribute to his efforts, with the outgoing prime minister saying that the government would miss his “wealth of experience”.

Liz Truss has warned she will make unpopular decisions as prime minister and defended tax cuts that benefit the wealthy as “fair”, despite growing calls to ditch them.

She pledged immediate action will be taken on soaring household bills if, as expected, she wins the keys to No 10 on Monday, with the promise of a plan within her first week.

But despite the gathering storm clouds and warnings her response to the crisis could have to run to tens of billions of pounds, she said: “Britain has been through worse, frankly.”

Kate Devlin reports.

Volodymyr Zelensky has heaped praise on his “true friend” and ally Boris Johnson, as the prime minister enters his final few days in office.

In an indication of the esteem in which the Ukrainian president holds Mr Johnson, Mr Zelensky has written a piece in the Mail on Sunday and spoken to the Sunday Times about his gratitude to the outgoing British premier.

In both, Mr Zelensky expressed his hope for future “close relations” with Mr Johnson’s successor, who could be in line for an invitation to visit Kyiv.

He’s clearly not in the Churchill or Thatcher first class, and his personal flaws and precipitate fall from power means he’s demoted below the likes of Blair and Wilson in the second division. However, Brexit and his election success put him above May and Cameron, writes Sean O’Grady.

Liz Truss has described as “fair” tax cuts which could hand nearly £2,000 to high earners, as a former Conservative chancellor warned they would stoke already soaring inflation.

Lord Hammond said that cuts were “simply not the answer” and “not the right thing to do”.

Many Tory MPs privately also admit they fear Ms Truss’s plans will exacerbate inflation at a time when experts already predict it could reach as high as 22 per cent.

Kate Devlin has the details.

The premiership of Boris Johnson has been the most controversial in recent memory. From the prorogation of parliament, through Brexit and Covid-19 and Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, it has been a time of upheaval.

Monday, however, marks the end of the Johnson era. Whether it is Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak who claims the leadership of the Conservative Party and enters Downing Street, they will be hard-pressed to provide such fertile material for cartoonists.

Over the last four years, The Independent’s Dave Brown has been at the forefront of those chronicling one of the most exceptional periods in UK politics. Below is a selection of his very best work, telling the story of Johnson’s time leading the country.