When newly elected leader of the Conservative party, Liz Truss was just trying to process her victory over Rishi Sunak after becoming the third woman prime minister of the UK, little did she know what was in store for her in the very first week of her service.
After celebrating her win, she was able to prepare and meet the late Queen Elizabeth II at her Balmoral estate (who was alive then) to be appointed as the PM of the UK without having a sense of what was going to follow. No one had imagined that Truss’ audience with the Queen would give us the latter’s last official photograph from her lifetime.
The Prime Minister was apparently told of the Queen’s condition early on Thursday, and shortly after she spoke in the Commons to announce her energy bills package she learned that the situation had worsened.
Nadhim Zahawi, who as minister for the Cabinet Office is responsible for liaising with the Royal Family, rushed into the Commons and passed Ms Truss a note, sparking a whispered conversation on the front bench. He gave a further note to Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, who passed it on to Sir Keir Starmer.
It was clear that business as usual would soon be put on hold. Within the first three days of her prime ministerial takeover, she had to lead the nation in a time of unprecedented mourning. The policies she was about to announce, will now have to perhaps wait until the funeral of the Queen, which is slated to be on 19th September.
Despite the week that brought Britain to an emotional standstill, Truss managed to complete a relatively hitch-free cabinet reshuffle, announce a £100bn-£150bn package of relief on energy bills and replace almost the entirety of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street operation.
Liz Truss's call with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10th September, following the death of Her Majesty The Queen. The Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Modi for his heartfelt condolences, which he said were on behalf of 1.3 billion Indians. The leaders acknowledged the grief felt by the many people of the UK and India and paid tribute to Her Majesty The Queen’s lifetime of service. The two agreed on the vital importance of the UK-India relationship and looked forward to meeting in person in the near future.
