Liz Truss becomes Britain’s new prime minister

Liz Truss took over as Britain’s prime minister on Tuesday, signaling the start of a new chapter for the nation after months of upheaval sparked in part by the embattled tenure of her predecessor, Boris Johnson.

“The Right Honorable Boris Johnson MP had an Audience of The Queen this morning and tendered his resignation as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, which Her Majesty was graciously pleased to accept,” according to a statement from Buckingham Palace.

The outgoing prime minister and his wife, Carrie, spent about 40 minutes with Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral. Truss was supposed to be waiting in the wings for her own formal sit-down with the long-ruling royal, but the travel distance from London to the Queen’s Scottish castle paired with poor weather made her late, leaving the U.K. without a prime minister for nearly 10 minutes.

This was the first time a handover of power unfolded at the queen’s summer home, rather than Buckingham Palace in London. The traditional ceremony, called “kissing hands,” was scheduled to take place in Scotland to ensure certainty in Queen Elizabeth’s schedule given her recent mobility problems.

Earlier Tuesday, 58-year-old Johnson stood outside his Downing Street office and bid farewell to his post as he touted some of the highlights of his three-year premiership, including building up Britain’s economy to better battle the weather and energy crisis.

“I am like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function,” Johnson said. “I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific.’’

Johnson has weathered a series of scandals since his landslide victory in 2019, when his predecessor, Theresa May, resigned over her failure to deliver Britain’s departure from the European Union. The most recent involved former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, who resigned in July amid allegations he groped two guests at a private dinner. Johnson faced backlash after he admitted he was aware of past accusations, but put Pincher in his government post anyway.

Johnson last year also faced criticism for attending several government gatherings despite lockdowns triggered by the coronavirus pandemic — a scandal that has since been dubbed “Partygate.”

Truss’ takeover comes a day after she was appointed head of the Conservative Party in an election involving only the group’s 172,000 dues-paying members. As party leader, Truss automatically became prime minister without a general election because the Conservatives still boast a majority in the House of Commons.

With News Wire Services