‘Admired from Kyiv to Carlisle’: Liz Truss’ tribute to Boris Johnson met with awkward silence

Comments come in victory speech after foreign secretary is named winner of Tory leadership contest

Liz Truss was met with an awkward silence when she told an audience of Tories that her predecessor, Boris Johnson, was admired from "Kyiv to Carlisle".

The foreign secretary made the comments in a victory speech after she was announced as the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest.

She now replaces Mr Johnson as prime minister and will tomorrow visit the Queen, who will ask her to form a government.

"You were admired from Kyiv to Carlisle," Ms Truss told the audience after listing a number of the outgoing prime minister's achievements.

The comments were met with a three-second silence at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster before those in attendance eventually began to clap.

Ms Truss, the MP for South West Norfolk, said the outgoing Mr Johnson had “got Brexit done” despite the ongoing row over the Northern Ireland protocol.

She said he “crushed” former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at the 2019 general election, rolled out the vaccine and “stood up to Vladimir Putin”, Russia’s president.

Mr Johnson, whose biggest hero is wartime PM Sir Winston Churchill, has won plaudits for his efforts in supporting Ukraine since the invasion of Russia earlier this year.

The UK has been at the forefront of efforts to provide the country, led by president Volodymyr Zelensky, with defensive weapons and financial support.

Mr Zelenksy himself has described Mr Johnson as a "friend" to his country and said he would miss him once he was no longer prime minister.

Under his leadership, the Conservative Party won the constituency of Carlisle by just under 10,000 votes.

Boris Johnson forged a close link with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/PA) (PA Media)

But his popularity there may well have been dented by the Partygate saga and a host of other scandals that resulted in his downfall.

Ms Truss will become the country's third female prime minister after securing victory in the Tory leadership contest.

She defeated rival Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, with 81,326 votes to 60,399 and will take over as prime minister on Tuesday with the immediate challenge of easing the cost-of-living crisis for households across the country faced with soaring energy bills.

Mr Johnson will depart No 10 on Tuesday and Ms Truss will fly to Balmoral to meet the Queen for the formal handover of power.

She will then begin work putting together a response to the energy crisis, with support promised within days.