'A friend of the region': MPs tell new PM to address cost of living crisis 'immediately'
Liz Truss has been told to get to grips with the cost of living crisis as a matter of urgency after she won the Tory leadership contest.
Boris Johnson's successor will form a new government on Tuesday after defeating Rishi Sunak with 57 per cent of the vote – a majority of nearly 21,000.
Speaking after her victory the new Prime Minister vowed to deliver a "bold plan" to cut taxes and grow Britain's economy.
And politicians and business leaders said there was not a moment to waste when it comes to dealing with rocketing energy prices.
Tories across the region have branded Ms Truss's victory as a good result for the West Midlands, while Labour called for an emergency budget to address economic hardship.
Wolverhampton South West MP Stuart Anderson, who supported Ms Truss during her campaign, said: "Liz needs to get her team in place and put together a plan to address the cost of living crisis immediately.
"We need more than just a stopgap plan to lead us through this."
Walsall North MP Eddie Hughes, said Ms Truss would "get down to work from day one".
"Liz completely understands the scale of the task and I have no doubt that the intervention she makes will be proportionate to that task," he said.
He added: "She has visited the constituency twice and campaigned with me in 2017. I consider her to be a friend of the region."
Marco Longhi, Conservative MP for Dudley North, backed Ms Truss to deliver a “strong plan” to support the economically vulnerable and businesses through the cost of living crisis.
He added: "We were given an electoral mandate to be bold and to be Conservative, and Liz is the best person to provide this.
"More of the same slow growth, tax-spend-handout, and moving from managing one short-term shock to another is not what people want. Nor is our continued submission to European Court of Human Rights and lefty lawyers over illegal immigration.
"This is the time for strategic change, robust growth to deliver secure jobs and finally taking back full control of our borders. I am confident Liz will deliver and she has my support and loyalty."
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, said: "Let’s get to work on tackling the cost of living emergency for families and businesses, and press ahead with levelling up the West Midlands."
Michael Fabricant, Tory MP for Lichfield, said the result was "very good news for the UK and for the Midlands".
"Liz is good friends with many local MPs and the West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, who are able to feed ideas into her," he said.
"I personally backed Liz, so I am really pleased with the result, although I was disappointed Boris was forced to leave in the first place in what was a very British coup.
"But Liz stayed loyal to Boris to the very end and I think that this, along with her plans for Government, made her popular with party members.
"So with a new Prime Minister comes a new Government and Liz is very aware that she will have to deliver on all her promises."
“In particular, and at the top of her Red Box, will be solving the cost of living crisis caused by the astronomic rise in heating bills.
"I am expecting announcements regarding this by the end of the week. She needs to hit the ground running."
John Spellar, Labour MP for Warley, said: "We won't judge her on her campaign rhetoric during the election. But we will be judging her on her actions.
"Up to now that doesn't look very promising. The country desperately needs leadership in this time of huge crisis and large numbers of people facing poverty.
"We need urgent action – including an emergency budget – to show that the Government understands the hardship the country is facing."
British Chamber of Commerce chair, Sarah Howard, said time was "running out" for many businesses faced with "unsustainable" rises in energy bills and soaring inflation.
"Unless the new Prime Minister addresses these problems head-on then the economy will drift further into dangerous waters and the outlook for both businesses and consumers will be bleak indeed," she said.
In her victory speech Ms Truss paid tribute to outgoing PM Mr Johnson, who she said had stood up to Vladimir Putin, delivered Brexit and overseen the successful vaccine roll-out.
She is set to announce her top team on Tuesday afternoon before holding her first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning.
