Worcester’s MP. Robin Walker has welcomed the conclusion of the Conservative and Unionist Party’s leadership election and offered his congratulations to the winner, Liz Truss, the former Foreign Secretary who will become Prime Minster later this week. Robin, who served as PPS to the incoming PM when she was DEFRA secretary has written to congratulate her on becoming the third lady Prime Minister in the history of the UK.
She won the leadership contest with 57% of the votes of members against Rishi Sunak’s 42% and after a strenuous national tour of debates and hustings. Although Robin had backed Mr Sunak, the former Chancellor, he has promised to get behind the new leader and ensure she can deliver.
Top of the agenda, quite rightly, is help with the cost of living and in her first few words after winning the election Liz Truss set out help with energy bills and more action on the long term issue of energy security as key priorities. Robin is urging her to ensure that help reaches consumers and businesses in Worcester as fast as possible. As a former schools Minister, Robin has welcomed the focus of both candidates on driving up attainment in schools and is urging them to keep this at the forefront of policy.
She also spoke about the importance of using all the talents of the Conservative Party in Parliament, in councils and beyond and ensuring that the focus of Government should be on “delivery, delivery and delivery.”
Robin said:
“I congratulate Liz Truss on a decisive victory and on the historic achievement of being about to become the third woman Prime Minister of our great country. I am proud that our party has set out a wealth of talent over the course of this campaign and I sincerely congratulate both the candidates on the strong case they made and the tens of thousands of votes they received. Having worked closely with both the candidates in Government I have always been clear that either of them has the talent and ability to take on Keir Starmer’s Labour Party and win.”
“Although this was a more closely contested election than some of the pundits predicted, it has shown that there are clear priorities which are shared – supporting the economy, tackling inflation, helping people rapidly ahead of the Winter, cutting tax and standing up for the UK in a challenging world. I want to support our new leader in doing this. I am clear on what the priorities are for my constituents in Worcester and I am glad that these were echoed in the new leader’s opening statement – help with the cost of living, supporting our NHS and boosting growth in the economy. I will do all I can to ensure that the relentless focus on delivery is kept up.”
“I understand there has been some impatience at the time it has taken to resolve this question but I think it is right that the members have had their say. I respect the result as I do all democratic decisions and will work as hard as I can as Worcester’s MP to make it a success. The broad church that is the Conservative party needs to bring all of its talents to this task. It is vital that our new PM can hit the ground running and she deserves the support of the whole party in doing so.”
