Foreign Secretary Liz Truss enters race to become next British prime minister

Liz Truss

The race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and the next British prime minister widened further on Monday as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss became another high-profile contestant entering the fray to go head-to-head with British Indian former minister Rishi Sunak.

"I will lead a government committed to core Conservative principles: low taxes, a firm grip on spending, driving growth in the economy, and giving people the opportunity to achieve anything they want to achieve," she said.

Truss' junior minister in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Muzaffarabad-born Rehman Chishti, also entered the contest to become the second Pakistani-origin minister alongside UK-born former Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

It takes the total number of candidates to 11, including Indian-origin Attorney General Suella Braverman, Iraqi-origin Nadhim Zahawi, Nigerian-origin Kemi Bedanoch, Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat, ex-foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to pitch herself as a committed Brexiteer and is reportedly going to bring other Brexit hardliners, like Braverman and Badenoch, into her camp.

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