It’s Truss vs Sunak for the battle to be Britain’s next Prime Minister

The race to become the prime minister of the United Kingdom has narrowed down to just two as Conservative MPs on Wednesday (July 20) chose former finance minister Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss to battle to be the party leader and the prime minister. Party members will decide the final name.
In the latest Tory leadership ballot, Penny Mordaunt was eliminated after getting 105 votes. Sunak led the last of five ballots of Tory lawmakers, winning 137 votes, ahead of Truss on 113.

The final result will be announced on September 5. However, it is quite clear that Britain will either get its first PM of colour or its third woman leader.

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After winning the latest voting, Sunak said: “We need to restore trust, rebuild the economy, and reunite our country.”
His comments were made in the reference to Britain’s ongoing struggle with the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, which has gotten worse due to the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine and Brexit.

On the other hand, Truss said she was “not complacent at all”. She said: “What I believe is that lowering taxes, opening up opportunities, is going to help us deliver the economic growth that Britain needs. And it’s also going to help deliver us the next election.”

While selecting the final name, the party members will also consider how both candidates would approach some of the key issues as Sunak wants to tackle surging inflation and Britain’s pandemic debts. On the other hand, Truss wants immediate tax cuts. Overall, the economy will be a key battleground in the coming weeks.

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Considering the current heatwave issues in the UK, their approach to climate change will also be very crucial. Sunak has vowed to stick with Britain’s legally binding targets to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

He previously said that he would maintain “green levies” on energy bills earmarked to help the renewable sector grow. Truss has vowed to scrap the levies, but says she is committed to the 2050 target.

Besides taxation and climate change, other important factors to consider and analyse Truss and Sunak’s approach are defence, cost of living, immigration and Brexit.

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