Liz Truss was named as Britain's next prime minister on Monday, winning a leadership race for the governing Conservative party at a time when the country faces a cost of living crisis, industrial unrest and a recession.

After weeks of an often bad-tempered and divisive leadership contest that saw the foreign minister face off against former finance minister Rishi Sunak, Truss came out on top in a vote of Conservative Party members.

Liz Truss says it's an honour to be elected and pays tribute to Boris Johnson

Liz Truss says it is an honour to have been elected as party leader. She thanks the party staff “for organising one of the longest job interviews in history”.

She thanks her family, friends and supporters,

She pays tribute to her rivals, particularly Rishi Sunak. She says they have shown “the breadth and depth of talent in the Conservative party”.

And she thanks the outgoing leader, “my friend Boris Johnson”. She goes on:

Boris, you got Brexit done. You crushed Jeremy Corbyn, you rolled out the vaccine. And you stood up to Vladimir Putin. You were admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.

Truss pauses, but it takes a while before people in the audience applaud.

Liz Truss: 81,326

Rishi Sunak: 60,399

Electorate: 172,437

Turnout: 82.6%

Rejected ballot papers: 654