The race for the Britain’s next Prime Minister

News Desk

London: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, after being voted as the leader of the present Conservative party in government, will travel to Balmoral in Scotland to receive the royal assent to become Her Majesty’s fourth prime minister in the short period of six years.

Truss has beaten Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of Exchequer, in the race to become the new leader of the party and the prime minister.

Readers will recall that Sunak emerged as the leading candidate in the preliminary rounds of votes by the conservative parliamentary party. However, it was predicted right from the start that Truss will emerge as the party members favourite.

With Truss winning the race for the prime minister, Britain has lost an opportunity to appoint its first non-white prime minister.

Four prime ministers in six years in the World’s oldest and most stable democracy

My own reading was that the conservative membership was not ready to appoint the first non-white party leader and the new prime minister of the country.

However, it is encouraging to see that a non-white white politician knocking on the door for the top most position and, hence, coming very close. This is a good omen for the world’s longest and most respected democracy in the free world.

The fact that Britain has undergone four prime ministers in six years, without its democratic process being derailed, shows the belief, resilience and the strength of its democratic institutions. Prime ministers come and go but institutions stay to ensure continuity of the democratic resolve. Something that Pakistan can learn from and try to emulate.

Liz Truss will travel with the outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Balmoral in Scotland tomorrow to receive the royal assent to become Her Majesty’s new first Minister. The fact that the outgoing minister is accompanying his successor shows a high level of respect for the integrity of the democratic change.

The challenges ahead for the new Prime Minister are huge: souring costs of energy, spiralling inflation, rising interest rates, strikes, climatic and political turmoils and much more.

Truss, have about two years to turn her and the country’s fortunes around.