Following the resignation of Boris Johnson due to various personal scandals, the British Conservative Party (commonly referred to as the Tories) has chosen the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in Liz Truss, the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk. She defeated fellow Tory MP Rishi Sunak in the leadership election to become Britain’s next head of government.

Truss, an MP since 2010 and a cabinet member in multiple Tory governments throughout the 2010s, will be the third female Prime Minister in the nation’s history. In her first speech as Prime Minister, Truss addressed the primary concerns of her administration including the economy, Britain’s energy crisis and the NHS (Britain’s single payer healthcare system).

“I’m confident that together we can ride out the storm, we can rebuild the economy and we can become the modern brilliant Britain that I know we can be,” Truss remarked during her maiden speech. 

However, Truss will most likely have to hit the ground running as the United Kingdom faces various other problems such as the implications of inflation on the value of the pound. Additionally, the Tory party she inherits, which has enjoyed uninterrupted power since 2010, consistently trails the Labour Party in general election polls.

Truss’ ascension to leadership was well-received by her fellow Tories, including Sunak, her main rival for the job. She has also been fairly lauded in the US as well with President Joe Biden congratulating her and expressing his eagerness to work closely with the UK. However, she and her policy goals are also facing criticism from Labourites and younger Brits with many, like policy researcher Carys Roberts, decrying her as an “heir to [Margaret] Thatcher”.

Truss is also a Cleveland Browns fan.