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Coco Gauff Reaches U.S. Open Quarter Finals for 1st Time; Conservative Party to Announce New Leader; Britain's Next PM: Winner of Leadership Contest Will Become Prime Minister; Liz Truss To Be Britain's Next Prime Minister; Truss Promises To Deal With Energy Crisis. Aired 7-8:30a ET

Aired September 05, 2022 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Watching on TV. It was electric. You had a feeling like one of these two guys win the whole thing. That's what it felt like.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be big for Kyrgios if he could do it.

BERMAN: All right. Kelly Mena (ph), great to see you. "NEW DAY" continues right now.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: A "NEW DAY" there and welcome you to the heart of British politics. I'm Max Foster outside the British Houses of Parliament in Central London

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN HOST: and I'm Bianca Nobilo, on this Monday, September the 5th. Later this hour after an eight week campaign, the people of Britain will find out who will be their next Prime Minister.

FOSTER: 160,000 votes by party members, eight weeks of political wrangling, it's really felt like a long campaign, doesn't it?

NOBILO: (CROSSTALK) you might say.

FOSTER: Two final contenders at last, and now just half an hour until the big result. It's a momentous day for the mother of parliaments. And as we wait to find out who is Britain's next prime minister, everyone is talking about one name really.

NOBILO: And the conservative leadership contest boils down to either the former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, or that name that Max was just referring to, the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Liz Truss widely considered to be the favorite. She's had a really chunky lead for several weeks now in the polls, and it will be a daunting task for whoever takes the top job at number 10 with the pressure on to find a solution to Britain's cost of living crisis. We expect the winner to make a speech right after the result is announced.

FOSTER: An important note for you, Boris Johnson will remain Prime Minister until tomorrow, that's because the Queen needs to formally appoint his replacement, something that she'll do from her country residents in Balmoral in Scotland. It is the first time that 96 year old hasn't been at Buckingham Palace for such an occasion during her seven decade reign.

NOBILO: Now let's get more from our correspondents. Anna Stewart joins us to break down the economic challenges facing the new prime minister and Nic Robertson is at Downing Street with political reaction on this historic day.

Anna, it's been said many times that whoever the next prime minister is, they are going to face the poison chalice given the state of the economy in this country with inflation spiraling out of control. Just lay out how big of a problem the prime minister is going to have to face on their first day.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, you know, few British Prime Ministers have really taken the reins of such a poor economy. I mean, at this stage the in-tray in terms of what to deal with in terms of the economy and finances is huge. This morning, the British pound hit a new low against the dollar. The lowest you've seen since 1985. Follow similar moves from the euro actually.

And this is because this continent is bracing for what is already an energy crisis, but it's getting worse now since, of course, Russia has turned off the gas tax down Nord Stream 1. But this is pushing up inflation. And this is one of the big problems that the U.K. faces.

And we can show you where it stands compared to other economies, such as the Eurozone and the United States. That's got the worst inflation figure out of the G7, over 10 percent, so that is high. And actually the Bank of England expects it to top 13 percent before it comes down, and has already warned of a recession.

You know what, that isn't even the gloomiest outlook. We've had Goldman Sachs expects inflation, or at least has warned that it could top 22 percent next year with an economic contraction of over 3 percent.

Now looking at that inflation figure, the big problem here, as we've said many times before, is energy prices. And here in the U.K., it's the wholesale price of energy, which sees where the energy price cap goes, that's the maximum that energy suppliers can charge households and it keeps going up.

So you can see here where it has gone so far this year compared to April, and now where it is in October, as you see there. You're looking at - it's already tripled or will have done when we hit October from April for the average household, that's in terms of annual bills. By January when it's set to rise again, you will see energy bills have quintupled. So people are going to have to find 1000s of pounds more a year for their energy bills.

So one of the biggest problems and the answer people really want to see is what are the two prime minister candidates or whichever one wins, which one is, what would they do in terms of the energy price cap. Are they going to freeze it? There's an expectation that Liz Truss could do that. Are they're going to introduce more subsidies and grants targeted at different sectors of society - the lowest paid pensioners, that's the expectation for Rishi Sunak. But I can tell you that from the economists' standpoint, there is a big concern here that the U.K. ends up borrowing even more to try and sort this out. And actually looking at debt to GDP, it's at the worst level we've seen since the 1960s. So huge problems for the next prime minister.

FOSTER: Yes, Nic, you'd wonder why anyone would really want to take on this job at this time. But we know that Sunak and Truss are the final two contenders. But we're only talking about Truss really today. Just explain why that is and what we know about her.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, this has been a battle that's been hard fought over the summer. Those eight weeks where the Conservative Party membership, about 160,000 members, have been given their vote.

Historically, they always do to select the next leader of the Conservative Party. In this case now it becomes prime minister. And they do not typically represent the average of the British population. They are typically more wealthy, typically slightly older, typically more white. 1 percent of the country, essentially, picking the new leader of the country.

[07:05:00]

That said, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have really shown the divisions that exists within the Conservative Party, as they've sort of slugged this out for - in this popularity contest over the summer. And that will be, for whoever becomes the next prime minister likely, Liz Truss, will be one of their challenges.

But they're going to be many challenges, not just reuniting the Conservative Party, but those economic challenges that Anna was talking about. Liz Truss speaking with the BBC over the weekend, said that she understood this pressing sense of urgency to do something about rising energy costs. This is how she explained her plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ TRUSS, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: As prime minister, within one week, I will make sure there is an announcement on how we are going to deal with the issue of energy bills, and of long-term supply to put this country on the right footing for winter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now she was pressed for precisely what she meant. And I think Anna has given us a very good indication of the options there. But largely, the expectation would be Truss will go in the opposite direction of what Boris Johnson had been doing, which was to raise taxes. She is expected to reduce them and borrow against trying to keep the cost of energy down.

A big question on the cost of energy, will she just provide for domestic users, households around the country? Or will she tried to provide cover and protection for those rising prices for small businesses? That is on a lot of people's minds here.

Internationally, Russia, the war in Ukraine, that's going to be something very big and dynamic on her plate. We don't know how that's going to go. And the other thing, of course, her relationship between the U.K. and the European Union, Liz Truss has indicated that she will be tough in terms of the remaining issues of Brexit, the Northern Ireland Protocols, following in on Boris Johnson's footsteps, and that's likely to develop a worsening relationship with the European Union. Multiple challenges, but that energy costs, that's going to be the most pressing and immediate.

NOBILO: And Nic, just before we get back to you, I want to let our viewers know what they're looking at. We're looking at live pictures from inside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, where the Conservative Party are congregating to find out that result as to who will be the next prime minister, and also seeing the prime minister leaving Downing Street as well.

Nic, if we could just talk a bit more about those foreign affairs challenges and the war in Europe, and the issues that that will present for the next prime minister. If it is Liz Truss, we know a little bit more about where she stands on these issues, because she is foreign secretary, she has been for some time. She's certainly been playing to that base you were describing and being quite hawkish. What do we know about how she would approach Vladimir Putin or the threat of China?

ROBERTSON: She has been hawkish on Russia. She went to Moscow as Putin was building up forces around Ukraine earlier in the year and was ridiculed, lampooned and trolled by the Foreign Ministry officials as she met with in Moscow. They were very dismissive of her.

Actually, a very, very tough trolling is what she got. And the feeling in Moscow at that time by Russian officials was that Liz Truss really didn't understand foreign policy, didn't understand what's going on in Ukraine. Boris Johnson has been very supportive of Ukraine. So far, the Ukrainians very positive about that the expectation that she would continue with the same level of economic and military support, just as this government has.

In terms of the relationships, let's say, with the United States, that will of course be shaded by how she handles the Northern Ireland Protocols, those remaining Brexit issues over Northern Ireland. The US Administration of President Joe Biden have indicated that they would not look positively on a British government that tried to rip up parts of the Brexit deal over Northern Ireland that were agreed by Boris Johnson.

And Liz Truss is indicating that she thinks that there's margins there for the EU to back down and change their position. And that, of course, is going to put them on a tough political, diplomatic course with the European Union and potentially, therefore with the United States on that topic.

FOSTER: Anna, we will get this announcement and then the new prime minister will talk about the new cabinet that he or she will be forming. We're almost certain it will be Liz Truss, of course. Finance Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer will be one of the top jobs and under him huge pressure as well.

Looking ahead to what you were discussing with us this economic Armageddon that's coming towards the U.K. over the next few months. Who are you looking at to be the next chancellor? And what kind of autonomy will they get, do you think, from Liz Truss.

[07:10:00]

STEWART: Well, it be interesting in terms of autonomy, because I think Liz Truss has a firm grasp of what she would like to see from her future Chancellor. She's laid out her basic plans. Of course, we're waiting more details.

Lots of names, I think to watch, particularly previous business ministers, Kwasi Kwarteng, I think is a popular name that's being spoken about at this stage. But really, they're going to have to fulfill some of the basic promises that Liz Truss has put forward in terms of reversing various tax rises, tax cuts, potentially.

And we're looking at this both for people, but also for businesses and it's really interesting. That's because, I think, Liz Truss' economic policies are generally seen as pro-business, at least in comparison to Boris Johnson's and of course, to Rishi Sunak's. But they're also policies that worry investors.

A dent in investor confidence, perhaps, looking further ahead, particularly with the increased borrowing costs. The fact that some of these policies with tax cuts could even be inflationary. It could actually exacerbate the existing inflation problem. It's going to be a big task for whoever takes that role and all eyes, I think, on that cabinet. But I think she's going to be a strong leader. So I suspect really the economic policy may come from the top.

NOBILO: Thanks Anna, and Nic at Downing Street. We're just minutes away from finding out who will be Britain's next prime minister and we'll bring you that announcement live just after the break. So stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back to our special program for you live outside the British Houses of Parliament. I'm Max Foster, with Bianca here in London. We're just minutes away from finding out who the next prime minister will be. We're pretty sure it's Liz Truss, aren't we? Because throughout the whole campaign, this very long campaign, too long do you think?

NOBILO: Well, in fact, one of the members of the committee that oversees this campaign admitted this morning that he thought it was too long. And I think Brits were facing this biting cost of living prices--

FOSTER: We've got board, and people are engaged with that.

NOBILO: A, Board and, B, thinking there are huge problems that need addressing now, not in eight weeks' time.

FOSTER: But why do we think that she's so far ahead? Is it because the polling is always been in her favor. But polling has been wrong in the past?

NOBILO: Polling has been wrong in the past. If we look back to the last leadership election, which Boris Johnson won, the polls gave him a much wider lead and he ultimately had. But they still broadly got it right. That might be something similar to what we see today. So maybe it won't be quite the thumping victory that she and her team might be expecting, but she's still likely to win.

FOSTER: Well, his team is briefing that the difference will be much smaller than people expect.

NOBILO: Yes.

FOSTER: But what they're hoping to gain from that?

NOBILO: Well, I think maybe he wants a good cabinet position, definitely not Chancellor--

FOSTER: Would he work for her?

NOBILO: Well I'm not - I'm not sure.

FOSTER: Its bitter campaign, wasn't it?

NOBILO: Conservatives are hoping that they - that he will at least be offered a big job, because she really needs a broad church. The indications are that that might not happen. But given all the challenges the country is facing, if she can't get the whole party tonight, she's going to be in serious trouble.

[07:15:00]

But back to your question about why she did manage to get into this more victorious position in the campaign. I think it's that the membership, first of all, hold Rishi Sunak partly accountable for the demise of Boris Johnson, who a lot of them wish didn't go. And there's a bit of remorse, I think, about toppling Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

Liz Truss never resigned. She didn't come out against him. So she had that working in her favor. She also has a more relatable quality. Rishi Sunak has really struggled with the fact that he's been associated with having an extreme amount of privilege. He's married to the daughter of a billionaire. The Chairman, Founder of Infosys is her father. And there have been a couple of viral clips that really haven't helped him, and have underscored that he's out of touch with the ordinary person right now when more Britons are falling into debt every day. That's just not going to resonate.

FOSTER: And let's talk about Boris Johnson, because, as you say, it's become pretty clear that amongst the Tory party, but also amongst Tory voters, he's still very popular compared with these two. A lot of people aren't very happy with the sort of the caliber of contenders. But, you know, he's not - in his final speeches, he was quite interesting, wasn't he? It wasn't like a final speech. It felt like there was more potential in him. What do you think he meant? Is he going to make a comeback one day, do you think?

NOBILO: Well, I think about his idol, Winston Churchill, and the fact that he was ousted from his position and then made a victorious comeback, I'm sure that that's an idea that Boris Johnson would relish.

It will be problematic for whoever the prime minister becomes, because it's just a function of who Johnson is, that whatever he says, whether it's on the speaking circuit or any words and columns that he writes, it's going to make noise.

FOSTER: Yes.

NOBILO: It's going to make a splash. And it will cause problems, because he has been the most dominant figure of British politics for the last decade.

FOSTER: Could he allow this next prime minister to govern over the next two years of pretty hellish waters for any prime minister, and then bounce back in two years' time?

NOBILO: I'm sure the idea is not unappealing to him. But we'll have to see whether or not the new prime minister can unite the party and bring them along with them.

FOSTER: So as you understand it, if we take these pictures, this is just up the road, isn't it? The QEII, the Conservative Party's effectively hired the place where they will announce the winner. As I understand it, the two contenders will get a few minutes heads up on the result before they had to walk into the room for the official announcement.

NOBILO: Yes, so we understand 10 minutes, and they obviously would have prepared their speech, which they'll give after the announcement, whoever is victorious anyway. But it's just a moment to get themselves together, discuss with the team make any final touches. Of course, if there was a hugely unexpected upset to get their brains around that as well.

FOSTER: As we will have to.

NOBILO: We will also have to do that. Yes, but we're prepared.

FOSTER: We're totally prepared. And immediately after this, the Truss team become prime minister in waiting, so presumably her staff will need to get into Downing Street as soon as possible, if Boris's team allows them in.

NOBILO: Yes, well, I've been hearing that this weekend, and this really speaks to how both campaigns feel at the moment. That Liz Truss' team has really been preparing for government, trying to figure out how they're going to attack the cost of living crisis in the first week, how they will deal with Ukraine, how they'll deal with a whole host of issues, who's going to be in the cabinet. That's not the same Rishi Sunak. So I think mentally they're in that space of preparing the government right now.

And as far as Boris Johnson and his team are concerned, obviously, they favor Liz Truss as Prime Minister and would give her an easier ride, because they blame Rishi Sunak, in large part, for Boris Johnson's downfall.

FOSTER: People don't know who Liz Truss is, amongst our audience, and even in the U.K. But they're going to find out more about her, aren't they now.

NOBILO: Yes.

FOSTER: How would you define her policy? She's very private person. We know about her family, but we don't really see them. But in terms of what sort of prime minister she's going to be, if she wins, what - how would you describe her?

NOBILO: It depends. If you speak to her supporters, they'll liken her to Thatcher, which is a figure that I'm sure our international viewers are very familiar with, in terms of having an indomitable will. If she says something, she'll do it, having some of those character traits.

And they'll say that she's been consistent. That she is a free market advocate, and she always has been, and that she's warm and approachable and somebody that understands ordinary people.

If you speak to her detractors, they'll say well, she started off as a liberal Democrat, which is another party in British politics. She was once in favor of abolishing the monarchy and fairly Left Wing principles. Now she's positioning herself as someone on the Right Wing of the Tory party. Does anyone really know what this woman believes or does she just say stuff that she thinks is popular with whoever's in front of her at the time.

And I think there is also a concern which seems to have been mitigated somewhat at points throughout the campaign that she is gaffe prone. She's made some pretty doozy speeches throughout her time. And famously one about cheese, which our viewers might be familiar with, but you can YouTube it.

[07:20:00]

But she has put her foot in it with the Russians. She early on in the invasion and said that it would be fine if Brits went to fight in Ukraine, not really understanding the NATO implications of that. And so some of those who would be critical of her as Prime Minister are a bit concerned. Does she have the tact and the diplomacy that's requisite for the office.

FOSTER: And also some criticism that she's never across the detail. But as a prime minister, actually, her job isn't to be across all the detail, is that you assign people to those roles, so it'd be interesting to see how she develops a cabinet later on tomorrow, she's announced in the next few minutes.

Britain then about to find out who their next prime minister will be. The announcement will be - what time is it?

NOBILO: Half past--

FOSTER: Half past exactly--

NOBILO: Or just a few minutes after.

FOSTER: --we understand. And that's there's a bit of a brawl that breaks out behind the scenes. We'll bring you all of the highlights as they come through to us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Welcome back to CNN's special coverage here in the heart of London. I'm Bianca Nobilo with Max Foster. And in a few minutes we'll find out who will be Britain's next prime minister. We're moments away from the big announcement.

Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, one of them will be the new leader of the Tory Party and by default, Britain's next prime minister. And while we wait for the announcement, let's bring in CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson at Downing Street and Anna Stewart in our London bureau.

Nic, let's go to you first. What is the mood at Downing Street? Do you think there's concern that a certain blonde bombshell soon to be former Prime Minister might create problems for whoever follows in his footsteps?

ROBERTSON: Well, not initially. You know, I think that's an assessment that Boris Johnson is going to need to leave this post and find a way to continue to make you know, adequate income for all his outgoings. So I think for the former - will be, former prime minister by this time tomorrow afternoon, it will be a question of, what makes the smart economic move for him.

And then alongside of that, does that allow him to sit on the back benches and bide his time and look for that political revival, as you were mentioning before, Winston Churchill, who he's written about extensively, and certainly has a sense that he is a similar type of character with that bounce factor possible.

But I think the expectation here at the moment is it's going to be Liz Truss. Well, there's always been an already been indications of who might take up senior positions within her cabinet. She has already indicated how she might handle the first issues of energy, of rising inflation. Of course, there are many issues that are going to face her, not just the energy issue, but also the health service in the U.K., education in the U.K.

[07:25:00]

And what she has said about these issues that have been brewing over decades and not have her making necessarily, but she said she's not going to be the one to kick the can down the road, she will be the one to take tough decisions. Would the former prime minister want to sit in the wings at such an early stage where she says she's going to tackle these tough issues, and criticize her. That would not be the done thing or the past form of past prime ministers,

Boris Johnson, of course, one to cut his own path and not follow with tradition. But it would seem to be that sort of action would not win him favors, in the long run, at least.

FOSTER: Anna, we were talking earlier about Liz Truss, she's not a very high profile figure in the U.K. But she is extremely experienced, isn't she, in government, the longest serving cabinet minister. So she's really shown her resilience and also her tactical ability to survive all of those governments and all the infighting that we've had in the British government over recent years, throughout Brexit being the best example of the inviting.

STEWART: She's an expert political player. And actually, I interviewed her back in 2019, when she was covering the trade portfolio about Brexit. She has been a deft hand at dealing with all sorts of tricky issues for various cabinets under various prime ministers, and I expect she feels very much up to this challenge.

But the in-tray, well, it's not a nice one. I mean, no one would want to face the economic challenges of the U.K. on your first day. And there's such expectation for her to come out with, you know, a really wide ranging massive emergency package, deal with the cost of living crisis, bring people's bills down, prevent a recession, and longer term prevent, you know, further economic lagging. And also, of course, sort of fix the energy security issue that the U.K. faces, which is why we're in such a poor position, like I'd say most of Europe.

None of this is going to be fixed with a silver bullet. And I think that is something that she will face quite quickly because of the expectation for a big economic package, for big solutions. Of course, in weeks to come there also is the possibility of a sense of failure.

I was speaking to people on Friday, just about what they expect from this prime minister, because there are huge concerns here about people's bills, about the cost of living crisis, and whether they think the next prime minister, whoever it may be, will really make a difference there. And here's what people told me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like them to call an immediate general election so that the prime minister is not chosen by the 160,000 members of the Tory party, and the rest of us have a say in the matter too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was the other one done for us, what's Boris Johnson done? Truthfully, has anything changed? You know, I don't know. I don't know--

STEWART (on camera): No high hopes for a big change in strategy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think he's going to get better over the next few years, not with the people that we've got in power, I can't see light at the end of the tunnel for the next, I don't even know what, 10 years? If ever--

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEWART: Certainly a sense of disillusionment there, I would say. And these are the people of course, that - in the coming years, Liz Truss will need to win over if she fights a general election. And I think a lot of the disillusionment you feel on the street in the U.K. is due to the fact that the public don't get a vote on this next prime minister.

NOBILO: And, Nic if we go back to you at Downing Street, Britain's still confused about its place, I think, in the world order and what it wants to say internationally after Brexit and the Conservative Party, have also been caught up in that identity struggle. How do you think this next prime minister might mark a departure or reshape how Britain wants to be seen in the world?

ROBERTSON: I think the short path to flagging Britain's position in the world is clearly going to be to continue to support the military and Ukraine, to continue to be a major player inside NATO, to rise to the challenge of what is escalating tensions around Taiwan and China, looking to the United States as a trusted, longtime, highly valued partner. So I think those are going to be the short parts to Britain's stature on the world stage.

[07:30:00]

But, you know, Liz Truss, as we've been mentioning her earlier, her trip to Moscow earlier in the year, she was ridiculed for sort of not understanding the history of Ukraine there. This was perhaps not unexpected, but it really exposed Russia's, if you will, disregard for Britain's standing in the world.

So this is going to be a tougher and tougher path to follow, particularly if the economy in the U.K. really runs into tougher times and perhaps say the economy of the United States, or perhaps runs into a tougher time than other European Union partners.

But definitely, the way to be clear about Britain's position on the world stage in the near term is going to be over Ukraine, because it's going to mean the need to be resilient towards President Putin and Russia. That's going to mean keeping on board the population of the U.K. And that's the way to project a Britain with global clout going forward. And I think that Liz truss has certainly shown herself in the past to be that that's the path - the chosen path for her.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you to, Nic. Let's go to the QE Center - QEII Center just up the road for the announcement on the next British Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister.

ANDREW STEPHENSON, CO-CHAIR, U.K. CONSERVATIVE PARTY: Good afternoon. Today marks the culmination of the conservative leadership election. It's been a huge honor to be Co-Chairman of our party, working alongside Ben Elliot. And I'm hugely proud of the way everyone has worked together to deliver this contest, which has shown the Conservative Party to be in good voice and good strength.

(APPLAUSE)

We've held 12 regional Hustings, the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, attended by 2,000 - sorry, 20,000 party members. It's been a long campaign. 20,000 party members and watched online by over 2.5 million members of the public. The members Hustings involved our two fantastic candidates, undergoing 14 hours of questioning and taking more than 600 questions from party members.

And these Hustings were in addition to the multiple online Hustings and the media interviews. This concluded last Wednesday with a fantastic event at the Wembley Arena, attended by 6,000 party members.

I'd like to pay tribute to Darren Mott and the dedicated team at CCHQ for running the membership ballot.

(APPLAUSE)

I'd also like to thank my parliamentary colleagues for their support throughout the process, and in particular members of the 1922 Executive ably led by Sir Graham Brady who have been running - who has been the returning officer throughout the process.

But most of all, I'd like to thank our party members who've undertaken the solemn duty of choosing our next leader and our next prime minister. Our members have engaged constructively, positively and thoughtfully in the process, whilst also keeping busy getting our message out across the United Kingdom, something I've seen at the 87 Constituency associations I've campaigned with in the last few weeks.

(APPLAUSE)

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to our outgoing leader and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

(APPLAUSE)

His leadership through Brexit, through the pandemic, and now through the war in Ukraine was never going to be easy, but time and again he rose to the challenge and delivered for our country. It is now essential that we come together as a party and unite behind our new leader and our new prime minister to continue.

(APPLAUSE)

Our new prime minister will build on the outgoing prime minister's legacy and continue to deliver prosperity, opportunity and security for everyone. So with no further ado, will you please warmly welcome two fantastic candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss?

(APPLAUSE) [07:35:00]

And ladies and gentlemen to announce the results of our leadership election, please welcome our returning Officer, Sir Graham Brady.

GRAHAM BRADY, CHAIR U.K. CONSERVATIVE PARTY 1922 COMMITTEE: Thank you, Andrew. Good afternoon, everybody. On the 7th of July, the prime minister announced his resignation as leader of our party.

The 1922 Committee then organized five ballots over an eight day period, concluding the part of the leadership election for which we have responsibility. And putting forward the candidates to the national convention and CCHQ for the program of Hustings all over the United Kingdom, and the ballot of the membership that has now concluded.

I worked closely with the Board of the party, CCHQ and Civica Electoral Services to ensure that all qualifying members had the opportunity to vote, and to ensure that our ballot was secure, as well as free and fair.

I'd like to thank the 1922 Executive, and in particular, my fellow officers, and Nus Ghani, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Bob Blackman, Gary Sambrook and our staff for all of their help and support, especially during the administration of the parliamentary rounds of voting.

I would like to thank the Party Board and staff for all their hard work organizing the Hustings which allowed so many members to see the candidates in action, whether in-person or online. I am grateful to CES for the professionalism with which they have dealt with the ballot in distributing, collecting and counting the votes both online and by post.

Finally, I want to thank all the party members who have taken this responsibility very seriously, all the candidates who put themselves forward for election, and in particular, my colleagues Rishi Sunak, and Liz Truss, who ran such excellent campaigns in the full glare of media scrutiny, and who showed themselves to be outstanding candidates to be the leader of our party.

(APPLAUSE)

Now the result. I, Sir Graham Brady, the Returning Officer for the Conservative and Unionist Party Leadership Election, declare that the total number of eligible voters was 172,437. The turnout in the election was 82.6 percent. The total number of votes rejected was 654.

The total number of valid votes given to each candidate was as follows. Rishi Sunak 60,399; Liz Truss, 81,326. Therefore, I give notice that Liz Truss is elected as the leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.

(APPLAUSE)

LIZ TRUSS, U.K. CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER: Thank you. Well, thank you Sir, Graham. It's an honor to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.

I'd like to thank the 1922 Committee, the party chairman and the Conservative Party for organizing 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.

(APPLAUSE)

[07:40:00]

And I also want to thank our outgoing leader, my friend Boris Johnson.

(APPLAUSE)

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.

(APPLAUSE)

Friends and colleagues, thank you for putting your faith in me to lead our great Conservative Party, the greatest political party on Earth.

(APPLAUSE)

I know, 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.

(APPLAUSE)

During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a Conservative and I will govern as a Conservative.

(APPLAUSE)

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.

(APPLAUSE)

And I will deliver on the National Health Service.

(APPLAUSE)

But we all will deliver for our country, and I will make sure that we use all the fantastic talents of the Conservative Party, our brilliant Members of Parliament, and peers, our fantastic councilors, our MS, our MSPs, all of our councilors and activists and members right across our country.

Because, my friends, I know that we will deliver, we will deliver, we will deliver. And we - and we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

FOSTER (voice over): Liz Truss, the Prime Minister Designate here in the United Kingdom. She doesn't immediately become prime minister, but she is taking over from Boris Johnson in 10 Downing Street formula formally, tomorrow once she's visited the Queen and been appointed by her. So that'll happen tomorrow.

[07:45:00]

But effectively from now, she will be taking charge of key policy and her team will be in 10 Downing Street handing - taking part the handover and Boris Johnson's team and presuming the Boris Johnson's team are fully compliant with that.

But this is the former Foreign Secretary, not a hugely well-known figure in the United Kingdom, but very, very well known in Westminster. The longest serving cabinet minister in the Conservative Party, someone that knows Westminster extremely well. And she campaigned to Conservative Party voters on lower taxes and personal responsibility, and she won with that message against Rishi Sunak, who was the finance minister, who now continues as a backbench Member of Parliament.

Let's speak to Nic Robertson, who was digesting that speech as it came in, also the result. None of us were particularly shocked or surprised, Nic, but what did you make of the speech and how she's going to carry things forward?

ROBERTSON: Yes, low tax, grow business, personal responsibility, conservative values, as she said she campaigned on and this is the way she was going to run the country on those same conservative values.

Yes, I was struck actually by a couple of things that she said, I think one big takeaway there is, she will deliver on the on these basis a conservative victory in the next general election in 2024. So very clearly signaling there will not be another election or she certainly doesn't plan an election this year or next year. That she will go the full five year term that Boris Johnson won that resounding victory back in December 2019.

And the other thing I thought was kind of interesting, but also telling of one of the huge challenges that she has coming down the road ahead of her when she spoke about Boris Johnson's popularity, running all the way from Kyiv, in Ukraine, of course, where he is very popular. The U.K. is very popular for the support it's given to the Ukrainians - all the way to Carlisle. Why pick Carlisle? That's a border town in the north of England, on the border with Scotland. It rather underlines the fact that the Conservative Party is not popular in Scotland. The Scottish National Party are sort of girding themselves to have another Scottish independence referendum. That, of course, is going to be a big challenge for Liz Truss.

She spoke about the importance and value of the party across the whole country. But I do think that this issue of Scotland is one of those issues that's going to very firmly present itself to her as it was the Boris Johnson, the call for independence in Scotland, and how she handles the moves over handling the high and rising cost of energy, how that impacts Scotland, all of these are going to be - are going to be the big tests of her Max.

FOSTER: And Anna, as Nic was saying there, tributes to Boris Johnson. He's still very popular in many parts of the party, isn't he. We learned that during this election campaign. And if anyone was the alternative to Boris Johnson, it was Rishi Sunak. So there's an element of continuation here with Liz Truss. But how would you define her as differently from Boris Johnson and the previous regime or the current regime until she takes over.

STEWART: I think you're right, I think in many ways, this is continuity, at least compared to Rishi Sunak. And that's certainly how people are viewing it across the country. And of course, they're not all Conservative voters. Lots of people don't think much will change at all. And yet, this trust is very much trying to show that she will start an absolute change in terms of the economic situation in the U.K. where inflation is over 10 percent right now.

And it was really interesting listening to her comments there in her victory speech, saying 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 this is the biggest issue that the next prime minister has to face, and how are they going to do it. And there's huge speculation that Liz Truss in this, what's anticipate to be a big sort of emergency support package in terms of the cost of living crisis. We're expecting potentially a freeze on energy bills.

We can show you where energy bills for the average household have come, where they're headed. We're looking at really the average household energy bills nearly quintupling between April of this year and January next year, 1000s of pounds more for the average household to pay each and every year on these bills.

It will be interesting to see though when we look at that package, and we get the kind of commentary from economists, what will that do to the economic picture. That may help in terms of improving opinions - public opinion ahead of an election in 2024. But what will it do for the economy?

Because cutting taxes, freezing energy bills, the taxpayer will have to pay more at the end of the day, it will be more borrowing and that could be inflationary, and that may see the U.K. go even deeper into the expected recession.

So it will be good news, I think, in the short term when we hear this emergency package. But we'll have to really look into the detail of what's in that and what that really means longer term.

[07:50:00]

FOSTER: OK. Anna and Nic, we're going to be back with you throughout the day as we get reaction to the fact that Liz Truss has been voted in as the new leader of the Conservative Party effective tomorrow. That's when she will also be taking residence in Downing Street - 10 Downing Street, which is a default position for the leader of the Conservative Party. She will be the next prime minister, taking over from Boris Johnson.

She gave us a short speech there, but we get a much better sense of what she has planned from a big speech as she enters Downing Street tomorrow. We will bring you all the twists and turns and get you immediate reaction as well from within the Conservative Party, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back to our breaking news this hour from London where Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, has been announced as the next British Prime Minister. She will take office tomorrow when Boris Johnson was set down.

She won 57 percent of the Conservative Party vote against her rival Rishi Sunak, who got 43 percent. She'll be appointed by the Queen tomorrow. That's a bit of a different process this year. They're going to have to travel to Scotland, because the Queen was unable to travel.

Her top priority is really how to tackle the massive energy crisis in the U.K., which is underpinning an economic crisis. And she did confirm that she's considering a freeze on energy bills, but she's also very focused really, on how to deal with supply and future supply to the U.K.

Let's bring in Robert Hayward. He's a Member of the House of Lords. He's Conservative, a polling specialist. And you've been speaking to other senior members of the Conservative Party and you're not shocked at all. But what do you make of the numbers?

ROBERT HAYWARD, MEMBER, U.K. HOUSE OF LORDS: I think they're striking. Rishi got well more than was expected by the opinion polls. I've discussed with the pollsters whether their figures were right or not.

[07:55:00]

And his achievement, as you just said, 43 percent is quite striking, and has implications for Liz Truss, because I think the burden now falls on her to involve more of Rishi's campaign team in the cabinet than she might otherwise have felt inclined to do. FOSTER: So are you concerned that your party's exposed another rift?

Because there are two distinct sides of the party who voted for two distinct candidates?

HAYWARD: That's not quite true. There are people who hold very strong views on either side. And there are a number who voted, I think, for Liz Truss, who actually would have liked Boris not to have gone. But there's a lot of people we know that they delayed casting their votes until they'd heard the contenders. All the Hustings people were asked, have you cast your votes? And a very high proportion hadn't done so. So a lot of people made up their minds later on.

FOSTER: Most of the very long election campaign was about economics and how to deal with the pending crisis, particularly around energy crisis in the United Kingdom. Rishi Sunak, being very clear that now's not the time to reduce taxes, because of that, and that funding will be needed to keep the economy going. She wanted to reduce taxes, and she's going to do that. But she's also going to do something about bills. And he was saying that her costing is completely unaffordable, how are you going to deal with that?

HAYWARD: Well, I've got great regard for Kwasi Kwarteng, who is likely to be the new Chancellor. I chaired his selection when it was - when he was originally chosen as a candidate for Spelthorne. I know reasonably well. He will look at these issues very carefully.

It's going to be complicated, as you identified, because there is this rift between what Rishi was saying and what Liz Truss was saying. But there are a number of options, which I'm sure that the Treasury officials and new cabinet ministers will look at, before they make the final announcement.

FOSTER: Where does this leave Britain on the international stage? Because Boris Johnson, of course, a massive believer in the special relationship with the United States, very much lean towards the U.S. and away from Europe, you could argue.

HAYWARD: Yes.

FOSTER: Liz Truss has got a different view, hasn't she? She sees the U.K. as more of an independent states.

HAYWARD: Yes, she does. A comments read President Macron didn't go down particularly well during the campaign when she wasn't sure whether he was Friend or foe.

FOSTER: Yes.

HAYWARD: So there is still that difficulty with Western Europe. But Western Europe faces a common problem and its energy crisis. So people will be looking over their shoulders in different directions as to how each country tackles it. But at the same time, I think the relationship with the United States will be strong.

Liz Truss is clearly an antithesis (ph) in terms of a general approach. So I don't think that will change. I think President Biden might find it easier to deal with Rishi Sunak than possibly Boris Johnson.

FOSTER: Why? The baggage of Trump?

HAYWARD: The baggage of Trump. Boris's general demeanor, personality, the way he did things, which was for American viewers, rather similar to President Trump.

FOSTER: Yes.

HAYWARD: Less predictable, less clear, less consistent. And I think Liz Truss is much more likely to follow a clear, consistent line, which I think the current White House will actually appreciate.

FOSTER: As Foreign Secretary, she's taking the very tough line on Russia and Putin. Also, spoke spoken very strongly about China, and see - and really lining up China and Russia as the foes on the international stage. So how are we going to see that transcribed in to our daily policy?

HAYWARD: Well, that was one of the successes of her campaign early on, which she took this very tough line on Ukraine, which feeds into what the United States has done in terms of providing arms, diplomatic, military support. And to this whole question of China, which clearly has been a matter of enormous concern for the United States.

So I think, to that extent, she will be in almost lockstep with the approach of the United States, obviously, different view because we have the influences of Western Europe. But no question, she will take a view that's fairly comfortable for the U.S.

FOSTER: Do you think the rest of the world should see this as a continuation of Boris Johnson's government, at least in comparison with what we would have had with Rishi Sunak in Downing Street?

HAYWARD: There's no question. That the people who wanted Boris and there's still a part of the party who wanted Boris to continue, they will have voted for Liz Truss, and therefore she has inherited part of that mantle of Boris as prime minister. So he needs continuity in some form, but very, very different in other ways.

FOSTER: OK, so we're just updating you on the fact that Liz Truss has been voted by the Conservative Party as leader of the Conservative Party.

[08:00:00]

She will take over in Downing Street, therefore, tomorrow, and we're going to bring you more reaction as we get it through the day to the new prime minister on the world stage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

FOSTER: What's happening? Welcome back to CNN, live from London. We have just had the announcement in the next half hour or so that Liz Truss has been voted by her party, the Conservative Party, to replace Boris Johnson as leader and prime minister.

She will take over in Downing Street tomorrow and we expect to hear more about the sort of cabinet that will take shape over the next couple of days. But we know that one element of what we've learned today is that actually Rishi Sunak did a bit better than many people had expected.

That was her main competitor so will have to fold in some of his supporters into the new cabinet. But let's hear what Liz Truss had to say a few minutes after she heard the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER: It's an honor to be elected as leader of the Conservative and Unionist party. I'd like to thank the 1922 committee, the party chairman and the Conservative Party for organizing one of the longest job interviews in history.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUSS: Thank you very much. I'd also like to thank my family and my friends, my political colleagues and all of those who helped on this campaign. I am incredibly grateful for all of your support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Robert Hayward, a Conservative peer, is with us.

And nothing surprising in her speech, was there, at all. She hasn't given any detail throughout this campaign really about what specifically she is going to do in terms of policy.

ROBERT HAYWARD, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY MP: I haven't heard what she actually just said.

FOSTER: Well, none of it would've been new to you.

HAYWARD: But I think it's fair to say that, throughout the campaign, although she started off with clear specifics, as the campaign went on and holes were picked in her specific commitments, she then expanded, changed, elucidated whatever phrase, polite or impolite, you would like to use.

And therefore we don't have specifics by the end of campaign.

FOSTER: Lots of concern about her inconsistencies. So if you take the very basic one, that she used to be a Liberal Democrat, she became a Conservative, she was anti monarchy and she appears to be pro monarchy now, which is fortunate, considering that she's meeting the queen tomorrow.

(LAUGHTER) FOSTER: But there's been a lot flip-flopping even within the campaign.

What do you make of that?

HAYWARD: I think that's much more of an issue then her political parts when she was a student and we all know whatever.

But there has been the sense that she has changed tack, has an apparent cast iron commitment, has actually then been changed, whether debate (ph) or whatever. If you look at the total commitments that she's made in response to questions at (INAUDIBLE), some people have costed it at 140 billion.

Well, that is enormous money. She originally started by saying it was 30 billion or 40 billion but we will have to wait and see. But there's no way those sorts of money could be found in the British exchequer.

FOSTER: She obviously said something, a lot of things to the Conservative Party members really liked. That will have been the sort of messaging that she will get away with a general election.

So does she have to perform a series of U-turns in order to bring around other people, particularly those, the red wall seats, these are the ones that used to vote Labour and started to vote Conservative?

HAYWARD: She was addressing her comments to Conservative members and she's now going to be cross-examined by people who are asking questions on behalf of the republic at large.

If I were Keir Starmer (ph) tomorrow -- sorry, on Wednesday, at Prime Minister's Questions time, I would just ask a simple question.

Do you intend to do X, not this?

And wait for her to say yes or no to a series of different things, all of which she said she would do during one asking (ph) or another.

FOSTER: OK. Lord Hayward, thank you very much indeed.

HAYWARD: Thank you very much indeed.

FOSTER: We will speak to Anna now.

Because you got some reaction from the Labour Party leader, who now knows who he will be arguing with in the Prime Minister's Question time on Wednesday.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And here we have the latest from Keir Starmer, who has tweeted to say, "I'd like to congratulate our next prime minister, Liz Truss, as she prepares for office but after 12 years of the Tories, all we have to show for it is low wages, higher prices and a Tory cost of living crisis.

"Only Labour can deliver the fresh start that our country needs." And I think it's rather inevitable that we get that sort of thing from

the opposition party, calling it a Tory cost of living crisis. It is a cost of living crisis we are seeing across the continent, largely due to energy prices and a result of the war in Ukraine.

But what is Liz Truss going to do to tackle that?

[08:05:00]

And in that victory speech she says that I will deliver a bold plan to come probably in the next coming week, to cut taxes and grow our economy and I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills but also dealing with the long term issues that we have on energy supply.

No real detail there and we're not expecting detail for a few days. This was really was just a basic outline of all the things she has been saying for the many weeks of this leadership contest, largely that she wants to cut taxes and she very much sees the way of getting the U.K. out of this economic stagnation is to grow it out of that.

Economists are concerned that her plans, from what we have heard so far -- and they are quite basic at this stage -- would involve a lot of borrowing and post pandemic in terms of debt. The U.K. has already got of debt on its balance sheets, let's say. So it'll be interesting to see what economists make of that plan as we get it. Max.

FOSTER: And just looking at a note now, Keir Starmer to the Labour Party members, "It is clear as day, after years serving in Tory cabinets, nodding through decisions that got us into this mess, Liz Truss simply doesn't have the answers to this crisis."

He has got to a, point hasn't he, to the extent that Liz Truss is the longest serving cabinet minister and she is party to all of the Conservative Party decisions over recent years. And she cannot now distance herself from that credibly and pretend that she's this all new leader.

STEWART: That's a really interesting point, given how many governments she served under and so many portfolios. Liz Truss has been foreign secretary, trade secretary, chief secretary to the treasury, secretary of state for justice. She's worked under the department for environment, food and royal affairs.

She has covered a lot of different portfolios in her time. She is a trusted pair of hands, though, clearly, within the Conservative Party and very much has staked her leadership contest on the economy.

She had to. This is what people want to see. They want to see a quick solution to what is a crisis in terms of the cost of living, particularly energy bills, which are set to almost quintuple between April of this year and January next year.

The average household will need to find something like $4,900 additional next year due to the annual energy bill. And the problem is that this issue is not just a U.K. issue, this is a global issue, a big issue for Europe in terms of energy and bolstering long term energy security will take many years.

Fixing the short term situation of bills will likely involve her freezing bills and maybe having to pay energy suppliers money through the taxpayer to get the wholesale gas price.

And that just means more debt. So this is really the big concern, here.

Will her plan really help the U.K. in the longer term?

FOSTER: OK, Anna, thank you very much indeed. We do know that Liz Truss will announce by the end of the week her plan to deal with the energy crisis, the bill crisis in particular.

Many people saying that in order for that to be credible, it has to be something on the scale of the furlough scheme. So she has a huge task ahead of her. We will look at the detail after the break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:10:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

FOSTER: Welcome back to central London, you're watching CNN. We just heard the news that Liz Truss will be the next British prime minister. She's in a big position at a pretty critical time when much of Europe is facing a energy crisis and some of Britain certainly is not going to skate on top of the other issues that she's going to face.

She will be replacing Boris Johnson of, course and that will happen tomorrow officially when she takes over. She's promising a true Conservative government but she has different stance on the economy from what people have seen from Mr. Johnson slightly.

Saying her focus is on lowering taxes and lower than they would've been under Boris Johnson and certainly lower than they would've been under Rishi Sunak, who is the main competitor for the job.

She has also vowed to tackle the high cost of energy right away and she reiterated those promises just after the announcement that she would be taking over as prime minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUSS: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Conservative Party member of Parliament Andrew Bridgen is here. Explain to the viewers where you stood on this election.

ANDREW BRIDGEN, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY MP: I backed Rishi and I think he has had a very good campaign and he may not have won the poll today but I think he has forced Liz Truss to move her positive on support for the vulnerable this winter through the cost of living crisis.

The result today was as expected but closer than the polls were predicting, so 57-43, with a clear win for Liz Truss and now it's really important that the whole Conservative Party unite behind the new prime minister, as she said her three words were deliver, deliver, deliver.

We have got two years potentially until the next general election and we are still facing a cost of living crisis and we have the situation in Ukraine to be dealt with. And I think if the party doesn't unite behind the prime minister now, I don't think the public will ever forgive us.

FOSTER: The first test of that will be when she announces her new cabinet. You want to see some of Rishi's team in that cabinet, more now because as you say, it's a tighter result.

BRIDGEN: And across the wider government. It is important because it was 57-43, it was a clear result but it wasn't overwhelming. It wasn't the 65-35 that some people were predicting. So it's important that this new prime minister as of tomorrow unites the Conservative Party.

And she will do that, as she said, by creating government of all of our talents across the board, across the broad spectrum of the political party.

And I think we will have an energy price freeze within a week. I can support, that. That's going to give confidence to consumers and importantly to businesses. It's going to reduce the level of inflation, which means that the Bank of England will not have to put interest rates up as high.

It may have some impact on sterling but that depends on what happens in the U.S. and in the rest of Europe. I think they will be forced to adopt very similar policies to the ones that we will adopt in the U.K.

FOSTER: That something you agree with Liz Truss on, what you don't agree on is the fact that she is going to cut taxes at the same time.

BRIDGEN: I did not vote for the national insurance increase but I cannot see how -- cutting national insurance won't help those on pensions, those who are unemployed, the disabled and someone on the minimum wage will be about 60 pounds a year better off than someone on 150,000 will be a couple of thousand pounds better off.

That's not going to sort of the cost of living crisis.

(CROSSTALK) BRIDGEN: And I didn't vote for it when it came in. But we are where we are. What I will support is smaller taxes, fewer taxes, smaller government. But that on its own will not address the cost of living crisis.

This is an existential threat to our economy and in America and in Europe. And the answer is to freeze those prices, give business and consumer some certainty and help the most vulnerable. It's going to be a tough winter. If we don't get this right as a government now, that will lose us the next general election.

FOSTER: Germany is spending tens of billions of euros on supporting energy bills.

What sort of figure do you think will be required in the U.K.?

And will it be comparable to the furlough scheme, do you think?

Is it on that level?

BRIDGEN: I think it may be something along lines of the furlough scheme but we're not as indebted as France or Germany. And we have other options; 50 percent of our gas comes from the North Sea; 50 percent of our oil or more.

We can expand those oil fields and the gas fields but we can also go for shale gas and start fracking and we could be self sufficient and energy sufficient.

(CROSSTALK)

FOSTER: In many years' time; it won't help in the next couple of years.

[08:15:00]

BRIDGEN: Yes. And we will need to roll out those modular nuclear reactors from Derby, just outside my constituency. Shale gas would give us that energy security and bridge the gap. Also we could supply Europe, which would be very good for the balance of payments.

FOSTER: Andrew Bridgen, appreciate it. Thank you for the time. Thank you very much indeed.

Nic Robertson, our diplomatic editor, is in Downing Street, to give you the international perspective.

There is a difference here between the foreign policies of the Johnson era and the next era, starting tomorrow.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There will be, to a degree. But I think the way that foreign partners deal with the U.K. will in part be framed by how they perceive Liz Truss being able to execute her roles and responsibilities as prime minister.

As you heard from Andrew Bridgen there, not exactly a ringing endorsement. He talked about the 57-43 split and the importance of uniting the party and getting behind the prime minister, supporting her.

Yet clearly, as your questions revealed, not fully supported across everything that Liz Truss wants to do. It is going to be a very tough job. So how she succeeds, that will affect how she is treated by partners.

I do think that, in terms of Ukraine, that would be expected to be the same. I do think that in terms of dealing with the European Union on the issue, that outstanding Brexit issue, related to Ireland, the Northern Irish protocols issue, there is an issue that reaches across the Atlantic.

President Biden has a view on that. Liz Truss has indicated that she will also be tough and expect the E.U. to make changes that the E.U. has indicated they are not ready and willing to do.

So I think in that way we can expect Liz Truss to be, in those terms, very much like Boris Johnson.

But will she be able to be a little more flexible?

That really is not clear at this stage. It seems to me that domestic issues are going to be the biggest focus for her. Her command of those will affect how she is judged and respected by others. In terms of Russia, I think she will have an equally robust attitude, just as Boris Johnson did.

FOSTER: Nic, thank you.

Joining me now is Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs. He has known Liz Truss going way back, way back to university. We talk about that in a moment.

First on the energy crisis, she does seem to have an answer on higher bills. She doesn't seem to have an answer on whether or not Vladimir Putin decides to turn off the taps altogether. I know you're going to say that Britain isn't dependent on Russian gas.

But it kind of is when it's competing with Germany for the same remaining gas.

MARK LITTLEWOOD, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS: That is a very fair point. But I do not think you can expect our incoming prime minister, Liz Truss, to be able to predict exactly what will happen in Vladimir Putin's bizarre mind in the weeks to come.

She has to build a resilient policy but she will have to adapt. I don't think that anyone knows with certainty how bad things will be, come Christmas time. It could be bad, it could be catastrophic.

I hope she will actually try to tackle this problem by cutting taxes rather than trying to do more and more to fix prices, do everything with price fixing. I think that should be short term. You want people to really know the energy bills that they are facing. These are bills that many British households will struggle to pay,

will fail to pay. So we will see some emergency measures, I would think, by the end of the week.

FOSTER: How big?

(CROSSTALK)

FOSTER: Something like --

LITTLEWOOD: Oh, 100 billion pounds, something like that. I think that is probably going to be in that ballpark. Anything less than that, you're not really mitigating it.

FOSTER: What is she like as a person?

What was she like at university?

LITTLEWOOD: She hasn't changed a great deal. I should probably put on record that she is older and wiser than she was at university. Very, very, straight talking woman. I think we will get a very, very straight talking prime minister. Certainly face to face more than she is at a lectern giving a speech or in the media.

But she will speak very, very, directly. She doesn't much care which noses she puts out of joint. So I think we will have a prime minister who has a very clear direction to travel. She wants Britain to be a more free market type country.

But she is definitely going to make enemies as well as friends in bringing that about. One thing I can say about Liz Truss, if you spend five minutes no more in her private company, you know exactly where she stands on the issue that you are discussing.

FOSTER: She did not go very well in Moscow.

Do you remember that meeting?

A lot of briefing behind the scenes, Moscow saying she's not credible. At the same time you pointed out to me that she is the longest serving cabinet minister. And you do not survive that long with all of that turmoil in British government without being pretty smart, very political and definitely not dumb.

LITTLEWOOD: Certainly not dumb. She's a very intelligent woman. And she has been serving in the cabinet a whole range of different roles.

[08:20:00]

Some very, very, senior roles since 2013. So she's a political survivor. Many people tipped for prime minister have not had that length of tenure. The amazing thing she's been able to put off in that period of time is she's been a loyal government minister. She was very loyal to Boris Johnson who'll be leaving us --

FOSTER: Still today. LITTLEWOOD: -- to this very day, mentioned him in her speech. But she

somehow seems to have pulled that off simultaneously being a bit of a maverick. She's let it be known where she stands on wider issues, what direction she wants to go. She has somehow straddled those two schools.

And I thing we will see the Truss program, rather than her being the number two or number three or number four in someone else's administration.

FOSTER: She went viral on TikTok, dancing in the night club very recently.

She likes to have fun, doesn't she?

Does that make her a more relatable person?

I think what is interesting is what I noticed when I met her. She is a very personal person. She's quite indiscreet. She leans into the conversation. She's quite informal.. .You do not get that sense of her behind the lectern.

LITTLEWOOD: That is right.

FOSTER: And that applies to other people.

LITTLEWOOD: And in social settings she is a bundle of fun. I was at a party with her in June. I think she was the first on the dance floor pretty much. I was the last.

(LAUGHTER)

LITTLEWOOD: She likes to have a good time. I do not think that is anything wrong with that. All

FOSTER: Very private family life.

LITTLEWOOD: Yes.

FOSTER: We know that about her family.

LITTLEWOOD: She is very proud of her family. She is married, she has got two daughters. She's proud of all of them. She met her husband through the Conservative Party when they were both Conservative Party advocates. But she doesn't parade them.

FOSTER: And she won't be standing outside Downing Street with her kids.

LITTLEWOOD: I would be very surprised if her kids and her husband were along on the photo shoots. She keeps her personal life different to the enormous job she just took on.

FOSTER: The only prime minister in recent memory, considering the economic pressure --

LITTLEWOOD: Oh, my, if you were to pick the time you wanted to become British prime minister, you would not pick September 2022.

(CROSSTALK)

LITTLEWOOD: But sometimes you need a radical and a different character to deal with big problems. Maybe that has time come.

FOSTER: Her big test will start tomorrow.

Theresa May?

Really.

(CROSSTALK)

FOSTER: Liz Truss takes over as prime minister. We will have more details after this.

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FOSTER: Britain now knows who its next prime minister will be, it's no surprise that it is Liz Truss. But it all could've gone a little bit wonky at the end, because her main contender, Rishi Sunak, was pretty close in the. end and that could be reflected in the cabinet.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: He really picked up steam and had a great reception. And people knew that he was being honest with the public about the challenges that lay ahead.

She had some wobbles. It wasn't the resounding victory her team were hoping for. I was speaking to somebody on her team and they were hoping honestly for a minimum of 60 percent; 66 percent would've been great because it would've Boris Johnson's and it would have helped her along.

So Rishi Sunak did better than expected, so that's a small victory for his team, I suppose. But it just underscores the difficulty she's in because she doesn't have a democratic mandate. This is part of the negative democracy system, where, by default, she becomes prime minister and she has not gone to the public.

She's shown that she can appeal to a tiny sliver of the population and she is now going to try and take the country through these huge --

(CROSSTALK)

FOSTER: -- she's going to wait for the next election, which is a couple of years away.

[08:25:00]

There's not going to be a snap election, so she's not looking for the mandate. NOBILO: No, that's what she said.

FOSTER: Boris Johnson has tweeted, "Congratulations to Liz Truss for a decisive win and I know she has the right plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, unite our country and continue the great work of uniting and leveling up our country."

She doesn't talk much about leveling up, which is Boris Johnson's great initiative.

NOBILO: There isn't as much continuity between the two in terms of what we have articulated from Truss. She hasn't been very specific throughout the campaign and she has talked of change quite a bit.

But Boris Johnson is a true populist. He amends himself to what is most politically expedient at the time. But leveling up was an important part of what he wanted his legacy to be, lots of infrastructure and development, expanding opportunities outside Westminster and London.

She is definitely more of a small state person. The purse strings are going to have to tighten because of what lies ahead economically. I've not heard much about leveling up if any throughout the campaign.

Speaking to her supporters, they said that they liked that she dispensed with that. They want tax cuts, they want a small state and that is who she was appealing to.

FOSTER: OK, Bianca, thank, you.

We have "WORLD SPORT" coming, up but we've heard the news and we will be following it in more detail. Liz Truss will be the next prime minister.

It's raining on Bianca, you can move and save your expensive suit if you need to.

There will be lots of information coming out because, as Bianca said, we've had very little details from Liz Truss about what sort of premiership she wants and Rishi Sunak will have to be reflected in the cabinet, who has many views she doesn't share. So it'll be interesting stuff. For now, though, we will leave you with "WORLD SPORT."