Boris Johnson, Elizabeth Truss - Distinction without a difference

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss won the race for the leadership of the ruling Conservative Party.

Liz Truss, 47, gained the votes of 81,326 ordinary members of the Conservative Party. Her opponent, 42-year-old former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, won 60,399 votes. Thus, being the leader of the ruling party, Truss will replace Boris Johnson as prime minister on September 6 to appoint a new government.

In 2019 Tory leadership vote, Boris Johnson won the support of 66.4 percent of party members, David Cameron — with 67.6%, in 2005, and Ian Duncan Smith — 60.7% in 2001.

Liz Truss will become the 56th Prime Minister of Great Britain (or the 78th, taking into account those who have held this position more than once) and the 15th Prime Minister during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Truss will also become the third woman to chair the Cabinet after Margaret Thatcher (she headed the Cabinet from 1979 to 1990) and Theresa May (from 2016 to 2019).

As for foreign policy, Liz Truss will continue the course chosen by her predecessor: maximum assistance to Ukraine and maximum pressure on Russia. London sees Russia as the greatest threat to its security. This means that the relations between London and Moscow will continue to deteriorate rapidly in the foreseeable future. Truss will most likely work to improve ties with the anti-Russian Baltic States and develop a special relationship with a key ally, the United States.

The election of Elizabeth Truss to the post of the leader of the Conservative Party is not the best option for both the UK and Russia. Truss has demonstrated her incompetence both in the field of economics and international relations.

Speaking about UK's cooperation with Russia, Truss said in March 2022 that she wanted the Russian economy crippled.

"We need to … degrade the Russian economy," Truss said during a news conference in Lithuania. "We need to make sure … that the Russian economy is crippled so it is unable to continue to fund Putin and the war machine," Truss said on March 3.

Elizabeth Mary (Liz) Truss was born on July 26, 1975 in Oxford.

She previously served as:

• Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (2019 to 2021);
• Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2017 to 2019);
• Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (2016 to 2017);
• Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2014 to 2016);
• Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare (2012 to 2014);

Married, has two daughters.