Editorial | New PM Liz Truss needs better China ties amid UK economic crisis
- Successor to Boris Johnson faces enormous challenges and has to make an instant impact, and a more balanced view on engagement and trade with Beijing would help
Three years ago, Boris Johnson won a landslide election victory promising an exciting new era for Britain. Yesterday, he stepped down early, after a series of damaging scandals.
The baton, as he put it, has passed to his former foreign secretary, Liz Truss. She faces enormous challenges and will need to make an instant impact. Britain is in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis. Inflation is at its highest level for 40 years. Energy bills are soaring and the economy is on the brink of recession.
Truss will be under great pressure to quickly deliver on her promise to provide relief and spur economic growth. But her plan for costly tax cuts and energy bill caps has divided her party. Her first task will be to unite it.
Her margin of victory in a vote among Conservative Party members was lower than expected, at 57 per cent. She lacks support among her party’s MPs. There are already rumours of a coup to bring her down.
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Liz Truss named Britain’s new Prime Minister and Conservative leader
Winning public support may prove even more difficult. An opinion poll showed 67 per cent of respondents lacked confidence in her cost-of-living policies. The opposition Labour Party has a 10-point lead in the polls.