Liz Truss Is Officially Declared As UK PM After Meeting With The Queen

Liz Truss has officially appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after her in-person meeting with Queen Elizabeth at the Balmoral castle. The Queen formally invited Truss to form a cabinet and become Prime Minister.

Liz Truss and her husband, Hugh O'Leary, had arrived at the castle earlier today. The occasion comes after a two-month campaign to succeed Boris Johnson, who formally presented his resignation to the queen earlier today. While the queen still appoints the Prime Minister as head of state, the selection is now based on constitutional rules.

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Liz Truss Officially Declared UK PM, Events That Led To Her Appointment

Boris Johnson resigned as prime minister and leader of the ruling Conservative Party on July 7. Johnson's administration failed to face a vote of no confidence, the Conservatives retain a majority in the House of Commons, and a general election was not required to select a new prime minister. Instead, it was up to the Conservatives to select a new leader who would take over as the dominant party's leader immediately. Truss and former Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak competed for the Conservative Party leadership, holding campaign rallies across the country to rally support from the party's 172,000 dues-paying members. Truss was proclaimed the election winner on Monday after receiving 57 per cent of the vote, according to reports.

The queen still appoints the prime minister as head of state, but the selection is now based on constitutional rules. When one party has a majority in the House of Commons, as it does currently, the prime minister is almost always the leader of that party.

The new prime minister usually travels from the Houses of Parliament to Buckingham Palace to meet with the queen. The 96-year-old monarch is currently spending her annual vacation at Balmoral, her home in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Johnson delivered a farewell statement outside the prime minister's official Downing Street residence earlier, where Truss will soon address the nation. Truss will shortly make a speech after being allocated to 10 Downing Street, her new office and residence. She will deliver her first prime ministerial speech here, outlining her administration's intentions.

Power transfer is characterised by conventions and traditions that have evolved through time. United Kingdom transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a modern parliamentary democracy in which the sovereign has a substantial but mostly ceremonial role as head of state.