Can the third female prime minister in British history, who calls herself a "Thatcher iron fan", sit firmly at 10 Downing Street?

On Monday, September 5, local time, the results of the election of the head of the ruling Conservative Party in the United Kingdom were announced. The current Foreign Secretary, Elizabeth Tras, was elected head of the new Conservative Party and will succeed Johnson as Britain's new Prime Minister.

Terrass will thus become the third female prime minister in British history, the first two being Margaret Thatcher, known as the "Iron Lady", and Theresa May, who has experienced the chaos of Brexit.

As the "darling" of the Conservative Party's grassroots, Terrass was "far ahead" of former Finance Minister Sunak in the previous survey results. However, some analysts believe that the new prime minister faces a series of difficult challenges. As inflation has risen, the UK economy is moving in the direction of recession. Tras has few supporters in the Conservative Party, and polls show limited support for her across the country.

Ms. Tras beat her rival, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, by a 57 per cent to 43 per cent margin. Around 172,000 Conservative party members are eligible to vote in the race.

Market analysis believes that in today's Britain, which is in internal and external difficulties, the self-proclaimed "Thatcher iron fan" Oftras may become the shortest British prime minister in half a century.

High inflation is difficult to recede, how can the "Iron Lady" take the LinkedIn country through the winter?

The first problem Terrass had to face was high inflation in Britain.

Johnson was forced to "step down" amid a wave of massive cabinet resignations, leaving Terrass with a country mired in recession and an energy crisis. Uk inflation is already the highest among G7 countries, over 10% in July, while Citibank expects UK inflation to rise to 18.6% in January 2023.

CCTV quoted foreign media as saying that Johnson's successor took over an "economic disaster." Businesses and households in the UK are warning that they won't be able to survive the winter without government help, and that "millions of people will have to choose between food and heating." ”

In an interview on the 4th, Terras promised to announce plans to deal with soaring energy costs within a week of becoming prime minister, and launch more ambitious policies within a month; She did not provide any details as to what measures would be implemented. Analysts expect the UK government to intervene on a large scale, including a possible restriction on wholesale gas prices.

A poll by British consultancy Blue Marble summed it up: "The cost of living is so high right now that many of us don't want to imagine another winter. The report's expectations for the new prime minister are contradictory, both asking the prime minister to take people's livelihood issues seriously and bluntly saying that "we do not expect any leader to solve the crisis." ”

As the weather turned colder, the British media and pollsters were generally pessimistic about the outlook. In the campaign, Tras boasted that he would "take LinkedIn country out of the storm." Yet in the face of this week's thunderstorms and impending winter, The Times said, "Everyone understands the metaphor of the weather." ”

British workers greeted the new Prime Minister with a strike

On the issue of people's livelihood, the new prime minister has to face pressure from the trade unions.

As the countdown to the Conservative party leader election entered, outsourcers in Britain's business and energy sectors announced that they would strike on September 5 and 6, giving the new prime minister a "stepping down". Union leader Mark Serwottka called it just "a signal" that more protests would be organized later. "As the government has done nothing to alleviate the cost of living crisis, our entire industry is increasingly angry and desperate."

On the morning of the 5th, at the last minute, the trade union announced that due to the "major concessions" received from the government, the strike was tentatively postponed for one week, and if an agreement was not reached with the government, the strike would continue on the 13th and 14th. Since June, workers in Britain's rail, underground and postal systems have gone on strike several times to protest low wages, poor working conditions and layoffs. More people in the industry are planning to join.

A new prime minister with a weak public opinion base

In a period of deep economic pain, the conservative party facing britain's new prime minister is a very different party from before Brexit.

Over the past three years, the Conservatives have ousted two of their own leaders as a result of a heated debate over the direction of post-Brexit policy. Meanwhile, the Conservatives trailed the opposition Labour Party by 10 percentage points in the polls.

Tras had only a third of conservative MPs on the first round of voting, so she came to power without a large support base in the House of Commons.

At the same time, she inherited a seemingly very broad voter base that was stitched together by Brexit aspirations during the 2019 Conservative election victory. However, with the UK completely leaving the EU, there are analytical concerns about whether Terrass will be able to continue to integrate these voters with the issue of Brexit.

Some analysts are already predicting that Terrass will struggle to secure his seat at 10 Downing Street. Elliot Hentov, head of macro research at asset manager State Street Global Advisors, believes that ahead of the 2024 Uk House of Commons election, Truss "could eventually become the shortest-serving British prime minister in half a century".

Tras will travel to Scotland on Tuesday to meet Queen Elizabeth II, who will formally appoint her as Prime Minister. She is expected to announce a new cabinet in the coming days and take steps to help cushion the impact of soaring energy prices.

Thatcher iron powder

Terrass was born in 1975 to the son of a professor of mathematics at the University of Leeds and a nurse mother. She then entered Oxford University and studied political science, economics and philosophy. He joined the Conservative Party after graduating in 1996. From 1996 to 2000, she worked for Shell. She then worked at the Great Eastern Telegraph Bureau and rose to the rank of Chief Financial Officer before leaving in 2005. However, there are reports that Tras's life goals and political ambitions have always fallen in Westminster (the British Parliament).

Tras spent four years as a local government mp in south-east London, during which time she ran unsuccessfully for MPs twice, but that didn't dampen her political enthusiasm. She was elected to local council in Greenwich, south-east London, in 2006 and has served as deputy director of a center-right reform think tank since 2008. She was then included in the list of "Class A candidates" for the fast-track program of then-Conservative Leader David Cameron and was successfully elected to Parliament in 2010.

Since 2012, Terrass has served as Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Minister of International Trade, Minister of the Environment, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. There are reports that Tras is the female foreign minister on the "fast track" in British politics.

There are reports that Tras is very hard imitating the "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher. As Britain's second female foreign secretary, she "paid tribute" to Thatcher's most iconic images, such as appearing in a tank, wearing a Russian fur hat in Moscow, and imitating Thatcher's style of dress.

However, Tras's political attitude does not seem to be so firm. It is reported that Tras first joined the Liberal Democrats and was very active, but later chose to join the Conservative Party. She also defended her changing political stance, calling it a "journey." On the issue of "Brexit", Terrass, who also strongly supported "Remain in the EU" in 2016, later took a 180-degree turn, became a tough "Brexiteer", and will also negotiate with the EU on trade in Northern Ireland.

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