UK to declare new PM today, Lizz Truss ahead of Rishi Sunak
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London: The UK will learn on Monday who will be its next prime minister, with Liz Truss the favorite to succeed Boris Johnson and take charge as the country battles a spiraling cost-of-living crisis.
The result will be announced at 12:30 pm (1130 GMT), after foreign minister Truss and her rival, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, spent the summer rallying support among the Conservative Party members who cast the final vote.
If she wins, Truss will become the UK's third female prime minister following Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher.
The 47-year-old has consistently been ahead of 42-year-old Sunak in polling among the estimated 200,000 Tory members eligible to vote.
The leadership contest began in July after Johnson announced his resignation following a slew of scandals and resignations from his government.
Postal and online voting closed Friday after eight weeks of campaigning that Truss described to the BBC as "the longest job interview in history".
The vote may not reflect general public opinion, however.
A YouGov poll in late August found 52 percent thought Truss would make a "poor" or "terrible" prime minister.
Forty-three percent said they did not trust her "at all" to deal with the burning issue of the rise in the cost of living.
The announcement on Monday by Conservative Party officials of who will take over the leadership sets in motion a chain of events.
On Tuesday, Boris Johnson will deliver a farewell speech at Downing Street.
He will then formally tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, after which she will appoint his successor in a so-called kissing of hands ceremony.
For the first time in her reign, the 96-year-old monarch will appoint the prime minister at her Scottish retreat, Balmoral, rather than at Buckingham Palace in London.
This comes as the queen has suffered mobility problems and been forced to cancel a number of public engagements.
The next prime minister will be the 15th since the queen took the throne.