London: UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was on Monday announced the victor of the contest for the Conservative Party leader, defeating former Chancelllor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak, and paving the way for her to become the next Prime Minister.
Truss, who succeeds Boris Johnson, will be the third woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, all of from her Conservative Party.
Announcing the results, 1922 Committee chief, Sir Graham Brady said Truss won 81,326 votes, or over 57 per cent, compared to Sunak's 60,399 votes.
There was a turnout of 82.6 per cent of the over 170,000 registered party voters, he added.
Liz Truss is expected to become UK Prime Minister on Tuesday and appoint a Cabinet featuring no white men in the great offices of state for the first time, the media reported.
Truss is expected to make long-term ally Kwasi Kwarteng chancellor, with Suella Braverman moving to the Home Office and James Cleverly to the Foreign Office, the Daily Mail reported.
If selected, Kwarteng would be the fourth non-white chancellor in a row, directly following Sajid Javid, Rishi Sunak and Nadhim Zahawi. And Braverman would become the third minority home secretary, after Priti Patel and Javid.
Cleverly, currently the Education Secretary, would become the first ever non-white foreign Secretary, the Daily Mail reported.
There is expected to be a clear out of Rishi Sunak and his supporters after a bitter blue-on-blue campaign in which he seems almost certain to be defeated.
Into the political wilderness too will go Michael Gove, after serving under the three previous PMs.
Dominic Raab, the First Secretary of State, and Boris Johnson himself, are expected to return to the backbenches. Both have question marks over whether they can hold on to their seats at the next election.
There is also expected to be a clear out of political advisers within No 10. The Times suggests only a handful of long-serving advisers will be kept on as Truss seeks to slim down the operation.
Earlier, in her brief address after winnig the Tory leadership race, Truss thanked the party for "organising one of the longest job interviews in history", as well as her supporters.
She praised her rivals, particularly Sunak, saying that the campaign was "hard-fought" and showed "the depth and breadth of talent" in the party.
Truss pledged to follow through on her promises to voters, saying the Tory party needs to show it can deliver over the next two years, and that she has a "bold plan" to cut taxes and grow the UK economy.
On the rising energy bills, she says she will "deliver" when it comes to crisis by not only dealing with bills but also the long term supply issues.
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