Liz Truss beats Rishi Sunak in Tory leadership race to be new UK PM

'I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long term issues we have on energy supply,' Truss said in a speech following the result

UK foreign secretary Liz Truss on Monday won the Conservative Party leadership contest, beating Rishi Sunak to go on to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson – loyalty to whom seems to have gone against the Indian-origin former chancellor in a result that was closer than predicted.

The 47-year-old senior Cabinet minister was widely expected to become Britain's third female Prime Minister after over 170,000 online and postal votes cast by Tory members, ending Sunak's historic run as the first member of Parliament of Indian heritage to compete for the top job at 10 Downing Street.

Truss polled 81,326 votes,