Kwasi Kwarteng and Kemi Badenoch already joint-favourites to replace Liz Truss as Tory leader

Truss beat rival Rishi Sunak to win the Tory leadership contest and will now replace Boris Johnson as prime minister

Britain Politics Truss (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Bookies have already opened betting on who will replace Liz Truss as the next leader of the Conservative Party.

The former foreign secretary defeated rival Rishi Sunak by 81,326 votes to 60,399 to win the Tory leadership, and will replace Boris Johnson as prime minister on Tuesday.

However, Ladbrokes said that Kwasi Kwarteng and Kemi Badenoch, the latter of whom ran for the leadership before being eliminated after the fourth ballot, were already leading favourites to replace Ms Truss, at 8/1.

Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak and Penny Mordaunt are joint-third to become the next leader of the Conservatives, at 12/1.

Ms Truss did not enjoy the support of the majority of MPs during the parliamentary stage of the contest, with former chancellor Mr Sunak coming out on top among fellow Tories.

Who will replace Liz Truss as the next Conservative Party leader?

Kemi Badenoch & Kwasi Kwarteng open as joint favourites.https://t.co/yVRtYvsLMO pic.twitter.com/UNzERL50eE

— Ladbrokes Politics (@LadPolitics) September 5, 2022

And the 57 per cent to 43 per cent margin of victory, while comfortable, is still narrower than the last three Tory leadership contests that went to the vote among Conservative members.

As well as dealing with a daunting set of economic challenges, along with domestic and international political problems, Ms Truss will have to reunite a Tory party which has spent weeks indulging in blue-on-blue infighting.

She said it had been a “hard-fought campaign” that showed “the depth and breadth of talent” in the party.

Mr Sunak said the Tories were “one family” and “it's right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times”.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “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.

“That shows not only that she's out of touch, but she's not on the side of working people.”