Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Timeline of what’s next for Liz Truss as Queen to take executive power for an hour

Liz Truss due to give first address as prime minister at 4pm on Tuesday

Holly Bancroft
Tuesday 06 September 2022 11:27 BST
Comments
Boris Johnson and wife Carrie board plane to visit Queen in Balmoral

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

New prime ministers usually head to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen when they are first appointed. However Liz Truss is making a 1,000 mile round trip to Scotland for her meeting.

The change over at the top of government will all take place within Balmoral Castle on Tuesday. Boris Johnson will first tender his resignation and then Ms Truss will be invited to form a government by Her Majesty.

Ms Truss will then turn her attention to her very full inbox, and most particularly how to deal with the cost of living crisis.

Here’s the timeline of what is happening over the next few days:

A trip to Balmoral

Mr Johnson arrived at Balmoral Castle at around 11.20am for his audience with the Queen. During his meeting he will resign and recommend that Her Majesty form a government under the leadership of Ms Truss.

At 12.10pm, Ms Truss will arrive at the Castle door ready for her audience, which is expected to last for around 30 minutes.

In her meeting, the Queen will ask her to form a government and be prime minister. This happens in a ceremony called “kissing hands”, although only a handshake is involved.

The meeting is due to last thirty minutes and Ms Truss will then depart at around 12.40pm.

Ms Truss will give a speech setting out her vision for government at 4pm
Ms Truss will give a speech setting out her vision for government at 4pm (PA)

First speech as prime minister

Ms Truss is then due to give a speech outside No 10 Downing Street at 4pm.

This will be her first speech as prime minister and will likely set out her broad vision for the future of the Tory party and her plans for government.

Ms Truss will likely thank her predecessor Mr Johnson in the speech.

The first prime ministerial speech is often a chance to speak in general terms about the state of society and the economy. In hers, Margaret Thatcher promised to bring “harmony... where there is discord.”

Theresa May in her speech promised to fight “against the burning injustice that, if you’re born poor, you will die on average 9 years earlier than others.”

She vowed that her government would be “driven not by the interests of the privileged few, but by yours.”

Ms Truss said she would ‘govern as a Conservative’ in her victory speech
Ms Truss said she would ‘govern as a Conservative’ in her victory speech (AP)

Ms Truss, in her victory speech, said she would “govern as a Conservative” and said she would “deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy.”

She also said she would “deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long term issues we have on energy supply.”

We can expect similar things in Tuesday’s speech outside No 10.

After she has given her address, Ms Truss will then walk through the black No 10 door for the first time as prime minister.

Finalising the cabinet

One of the main tasks for Ms Truss on Tuesday is to assemble her cabinet.

Ms Truss is expected to appoint loyalists to the top jobs, with ally Kwasi Kwarteng being tipped to become chancellor.

Suella Braverman is expected to become home secretary and James Cleverly has been reportedly been selected as foreign secretary.

Theresa Coffey, another Truss ally, is also set to take on the role of health secretary.

Some other positions will be a bit harder to fill however, with the BBC reporting that Truss’s team are struggling to find someone to take on the role of Northern Ireland secretary.

New roles are expected to be announced later on Tuesday evening.

Boris Johnson urged the party to unite behind Ms Truss
Boris Johnson urged the party to unite behind Ms Truss (PA)

Prime Minister’s Questions

The following day, on Wednesday, Ms Truss will face her first grilling at the dispatch box in prime ministers questions.

She will go up against Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at 12pm.

Sir Keir responded to news of Ms Truss winning the Conservative leadership election by saying she was “not on the side of working people”.

Sir Keir Starmer said Ms Truss was ‘not on the side of working people’
Sir Keir Starmer said Ms Truss was ‘not on the side of working people’ (EPA)

“We’ve heard far more from the latest prime minister about cuts to corporation tax over the summer than we have about the cost of living crisis, the single most important thing that’s bearing down on so many millions of households,” he said.

We can expect the Labour leader to grill Ms Truss on her plans to tackle rising energy bills during their exchanges.

Action on energy bills?

Ms Truss is considering freezing energy bills for every household and business in the country in her first few days in government, The Times has reported.

In one of her first acts as prime minister, Ms Truss will reportedly cap the cost of gas used for electrictiy and heating.

The BBC reported that a freeze on energy bills is understood to be one of a number of options being worked on.

They reported that energy suppliers will be able to take out government backed loads to subsidise bills.

The £100billion plan to freeze household bills was allegedly proposed by energy companies last month.

A similar scheme could also be applied to small and medium sized businesses.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in