Liz Truss will assume the role of UK prime minister in a tough economic environment, with inflation at a 40-year high.
The UK’s ruling Conservative Party has named Liz Truss as the country’s next prime minister.
The 47-year-old politician assumes the top job in a challenging economic period, with skyrocketing energy bills, a weakening economy and inflation at a 40-year high.
Truss is expected to announce plans on how she aims to tackle rising energy costs within a week, with the potential for a freeze on energy bills.
She has alluded to spending billions of pounds to navigate households and small businesses through the cost-of-living crisis.
It comes as forecasts for inflation have been revised higher, with the potential for it to hit 22.4 percent next year if gas prices remain high, according to investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Truss becomes the 15th prime minister to serve under Queen Elizabeth II who celebrated 70 years on the throne this year.
The infographic below shows how the Retail Prices Index (RPI) – a measurement used to calculate the cost of living – has changed during the past 70 years.
Historical periods of higher inflation in the UK included in the early 1970s when Conservative Edward Heath was the country’s prime minister.
At the time, the UK was in economic decline which led to the country joining the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973.
