'That's going to bite!' Sky News' Rigby outlines Truss key disappointment with leadership
SKY NEWS' Beth Rigby laid out the disillusionment the newly elected Prime Minister Liz Truss has just faced, as she has just won the Tory leadership contest.
Beth Rigby breaks down Liz Truss' Tory election win
Liz Truss won the Tory leadership election with a smaller margin than expected with only 81,326 Conservative members supporting her against 60,336 for rival Rishi Sunak. She fell short of the 32-point lead on Rishi Sunak, a Sky News poll predicted for her. Reacting to the results, Sky News' Beth Rigby said: "That wasn't quite the landslide that Liz Truss might have hoped for. Indeed in the polling in the run-up to the vote during the ballot process.
"It was a 66-65 percent - the kind of levels that Boris Johnson secured when he became Prime Minister in 2019."
"Not as good there for Liz Truss. By my rough calculation, she came in with about 57-58 [percent] of the vote," Sky News' Beth Rigby said, in contrast with the 66 percent predicted by a YouGov survey.
"Again, that's 42-43 for Rishi Sunak," Ms Rigby said, up from the 34 percent forecast by the same YouGov survey.
"So, his allies have said to me it would be closer are correct.
"But in terms of what she was saying, she promised that she would deal with the energy crisis, thanked her supporters and she prayed homage there to Boris Johnson, which led to a rather awkward moment where the crowd weren't sure whether to applaud or not."
Boris Johnson won a landslide victory in the 2019 Tory leadership contest, with 160 votes against 77 for then rival Jeremy Hunt.
As newly instated Prime Minister, Liz Truss will have to face a crippling economic crisis for which she has pledged to cut taxes - a traditionally conservative policy that some party members do not agree with.
Sky News' Beth Rigby said: "In reality, this is a Prime Minister facing the toughest entrée in over four decades.
"And that is going to bite tomorrow when she goes to Downing Street."
READ MORE: Boris Johnson takes major swipe at Rishi Sunak as he hails Liz Truss
Ms Rigby said: "And from a party management point of view, she might have been happier with a bit more cushion with the membership because the party is deeply divided over how to handle the economic crisis.
"And she might have hoped for more support from the membership."
While her rival Rishi Sunak put forward a plan to help the most vulnerable households, Liz Truss has so far not divulged her plans to help struggling people with the cost-of-living crisis.
In an interview with BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, the newly-elected Prime Minister pledged to announce a plan to deal with soaring energy bills "within a week."
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Liz Truss faces an uphill battle on multiple fronts as the worsening cost-of-living crisis is only one of the issues crippling the country. Besides the skyrocketing energy bills, she also has to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
The bill, which the EU says is in breach of international law, still has to go through the House of Lords where it is expected to face stiff opposition.
The EU's Brexit Commissioner has urged the new Prime Minister to come back to the negotiating table after ignoring previous calls for months.
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