LONDON (AFP) — After a grueling nationwide tour, a dozen hustings and three televised debates, Liz Truss appears poised to take over as the United Kingdom's next prime minister heading into the close of voting by Conservative party members on Friday.
The result of the summer-long campaign pitting the foreign secretary against former chancellor Rishi Sunak will be announced on Monday, before Prime Minister Boris Johnson formally tenders his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II the next day.
Postal and online voting by the estimated 200,000 Tory members began in early August, a month after Johnson announced his resignation, and concludes at 5 p.m.
Truss enjoys overwhelming support over Sunak in polling of the members.
The UK is in the throes of its worst cost-of-living crisis in generations, with inflation soaring by double digits as energy prices rocket on the back of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Millions say that with bills set to rise by 80 percent from October — and further from January — they face a painful choice between eating and heating this winter, according to surveys.
Writing in Thursday's edition of The Sun newspaper, Truss vowed to "deliver immediate support to ensure people are not facing unaffordable fuel bills" this winter.
"I firmly believe, in these grave times, we need to be radical," she added, previewing her Thatcherite agenda of reform to cement Johnson's Brexit legacy.
