Moment Liz Truss is announced as new Tory leader and next prime minister
Liz Truss is set to address the nation as prime minister for the first time before announcing her new cabinet.
The new Conservative leader is flying back to London from Aberdeen, where she visited the Queen for about 30 minutes at Balmoral.
It comes just hours after Boris Johnson handed in his resignation to the Queen. The outgoing prime minister and his wife Carrie spent almost 40 minutes with the monarch in the drawing room of her private Scottish royal residence while he officially offered his resignation.
In his farewell speech earlier, Boris Johnson promised to give his Ms Truss his “most fervent support” as she prepares to announce her plan to tackle soaring energy prices.
The outgoing PM, who did not give any apology for the partygate scandal, accused the Tories of “changing the rules halfway through”.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Johnson’s speech showed he was “completely deluded” about the cost-of-living crisis people are facing over energy bills.
Eleven of former culture secretary Nadine Dorries’ gaffes and controversies
Nadine Dorries has announced she is resigning as culture secretary as Liz Truss takes over as prime minister.
During her two-year stint as culture secretary, Ms Dorries made a series of gaffes and sparked controversies, including fuelling a clothing war between Rishi Sunak and Ms Truss during the Tory leadership contest after she praised the then-foreign secretary for wearing affordable earrings.
Here are just her 11 most recent brushes with notoriety, for the sake of brevity:
11 of Nadine Dorries’s gaffes and controversies
Nadine Dorries has resigned at culture secretary
Rishi Sunak makes first backbench contribution in parliament since resigning
Rishi Sunak made an understated first backbench contribution in parliament since his resignation as chancellor, only a day after confirmation he had lost the race to become prime minister.
On a day of political drama which saw Boris Johnson officially resign and Mr Sunak’s leadership rival take up the winner’s prize, the former chancellor used his new-found free time to campaign for his local hospital.
Mr Sunak quit as chancellor in early July, which along with the resignation of then health secretary Sajid Javid sparked a wave of other ministers to walk and ultimately bring down Mr Johnson’s government.
With parliament back from summer recess on Monday, and Mr Sunak learning that he had lost out on the Conservative leadership race to Ms Truss on the same day, he has now put himself back into the role of backbench scrutiny for the first time since 2018.
He spoke in a Westminster Hall debate on the topic of unavoidably small hospitals earlier today.
Mr Sunak said: “Thank you for accommodating me at a late stage in this debate. I hadn’t planned on speaking, but this morning I saw the order paper and it turned out I had more time on my hands than I had anticipated.”
He spoke about the Friarage Hospital in his constituency of Richmond.
He said the accessibility of healthcare in rural areas was”an acute issue of anxiety and the pattern over several years had been in a negative direction”.
Liz Truss’ first national address to be delayed
Liz Truss will likely give her first national address later than expected today as she is still about 20 minutes away from landing at RAF Northolt.
The new prime minister had been set to give a speech at 10 Downing Street at 4pm but this now looks likely to be pushed back.
A flight tracker showed her flight was estimated to touch down at 3.49pm.
Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills at £2,500
Liz Truss is planning to freeze all household energy bills at around £2,500 a year in one of her first acts as Britain’s new prime minister.
The new Tory party leader is expected to set out her “major intervention” to cap Britons’ soaring gas and electricity bills as soon as Thursday, part of a package that could cost up to £90bn.
Political correspondent Adam Forrest has the full story:
Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills at £2,500
Bill to taxpayer in subsidising energy suppliers’ extra wholesale costs estimated at £90bn
Unions call on Liz Truss to crack down on sexual harassment in Westminster
Unions representing civil servants has written to the newly-appointed prime minister calling on her to crack down on sexual harassment in Westminster.
In their letter to Liz Truss, the Prospect union and the FDA said that fresh leadership brings an opportunity to restore confidence that parliament is a safe place to work.
As prime minister, Ms Truss has “the chance and the obligation” to correct the “erosion of ethics, standards in public life and public respect for, and confidence in, those who lead them”, they said.
The unions called for specific action including working with the Commons Speaker and the leaders of all parties to introduce a “formal mechanism to prevent MPs accused of serious sexual misconduct from attending Parliament”.
Ms Truss should also commit to restoring ethics and standards in public life by reconsidering her apparent suggestion that she may not appoint an independent adviser on ministers’ interests to replace Lord Geidt, they said.
UK government must cancel October energy price cap rise and freeze prices, says Nicola Sturgeon
The UK government must cancel the October energy price cap rise and freeze prices at the current level, Scotland’s first minister has said.
Delivering her Programme for Government, Nicola Sturgeon said a freeze on bills would deliver “immediate relief to households and also help lower inflation, easing the wider cost crisis”.
The freeze must be applied to businesses and to the public and third sectors, Ms Sturgeon added, and additional cash support should be offered to those already struggling.
She also called for greater powers to borrow to be granted to the Scottish Government.
Liz Truss flies back to London ahead of national address
A plane carrying Liz Truss has taken off from Aberdeen International Airport and will later arrive in London where she is expected to addres the nation for the first time as prime minister at about 4pm.
Liz Truss urged to be ‘saviour of football’ as new prime minister
Liz Truss could be “the saviour of football” by ensuring legislation is passed to create an independent regulator for the English game, according to a campaign group.
Ms Truss officially became prime minister earlier today and, while solving the country’s energy crisis is the most pressing item in a heaving in-tray, observers from the world of football will be looking for her government to press ahead with plans which would revolutionise how the game is run.
Read the full story here:
Liz Truss urged to be ‘saviour of football’ as new prime minister
A government review recommended an independent regulator for the game earlier this year
Plane prepares to fly Liz Truss back to London
Live video footage shows a plane waiting on the tarmac at Aberdeen International Airport as Liz Truss prepares to fly back to London after visiting the Queen at Balmoral Castle to be formally appointed as prime minister.
Nadine Dorries thanks Boris Johnson for never judging her accent
Nadine Dorries thanked former prime minister Boris Johnson for never judging her by her accent in her resignation letter this morning.
The outgoing culture secretary and MP for Mid Bedfordshire and part-time romance novelist grew up in a council estate in Liverpool and trained as a nurse in Warrington before seeking elected office in 2005.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain has the full story:
Nadine Dorries thanks Boris Johnson for never judging her accent
Former culture secretary says outgoing PM spoke to her ‘as an equal’
