September 05, 2022

Liz Truss: First speech to members

This week Conservative Party members elected Liz Truss to be our Party Leader and the Prime Minister, with 81,326 members – 57.4 per cent of those who voted – putting their trust in her bold and optimistic plan for the country.

Here is what she said about her victory:

It’s an honour to be elected as the leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party. 
 
I’d like to thank the 1922 Committee, the Party Chairman, and the Conservative Party for organising one of the longest job interviews in history. Thank you very much! 
 
I'd also like to thank my family, my friends, my political colleagues and all of those who helped on this campaign. I'm incredibly grateful for all of your support. 
 
I’d like to pay tribute to my fellow candidates, particularly Rishi Sunak. It's been a hard fought campaign. I think we have shown the depth and breadth of talent in our Conservative Party. 
 
And I also want to thank our outgoing leader, my friend, Boris Johnson. 
 
Boris, you got Brexit done
 
You crushed Jeremy Corbyn
 
You rolled out the vaccine
 
And you stood up to Vladimir Putin
 
You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle. 
 
Friends and colleagues, thank you for putting your faith in me, to lead our great Conservative Party. The greatest political party on earth. 
 
I know that our beliefs resonate with the British people. Our beliefs in freedom, in the ability to control your own life, in low taxes, in personal responsibility. 
 
And I know that's why people voted for us in such numbers in 2019. 
 
And as your party leader, I intend to deliver what we promised those voters right across our great country. 
 
During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a conservative, and I will govern as a conservative. 
 
And my friends, we need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. 
 
I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. 
 
I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long term issues we have on energy supply. 
 
And I will deliver on the National Health Service. 
 
But we all will deliver for our country. And I will make sure that we use all of the fantastic talents of the Conservative Party. 
 
Our brilliant Members of Parliament and peers, our fantastic councillors, our MSs, our MSPs, all of our councillors and activists and members right across our country. 
 
Because my friends, I know, that we will deliver, we will deliver and we will deliver. 
 
And we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024. 
 
Thank You.