UK to 'ride out storm', Truss says

Britain's new Prime Minister Liz Truss has set out her policy priorities to help the country "ride out the storm" of a challenging global political climate as she settles in to her role.

Truss was confirmed as the country's next leader on Monday, when the result of the Conservative Party's leadership election was revealed with her victory over former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak.

On Tuesday, her predecessor as prime minister, Boris Johnson, formally tendered his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, and Truss took over. Britain's third female prime minister immediately announced her new-look cabinet to get on with the job of governing, and Truss made her debut at the weekly prime minister's questions session in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

In her first public address as prime minister, Truss said outside Number 10 Downing Street on Tuesday that she was "honored to take on this responsibility at a vital time for our country", and she spoke of her targets to help the country "face severe global headwinds".

Her three early priorities, she said, would be to "get Britain working again" with an economic revival fueled by tax cuts, to "deal handson with the energy crisis" by taking instant action to address the issue of rising fuel bills, and to put the National Health Service "on a firm footing". The pursuit of these policies would "put our nation on the path to long-term success", said Truss, adding that the country could "ride out the storm".

The speech made no mention of climate change or relations with the European Union, which remain strained following Brexit, particularly over the unresolved issue of the status of Northern Ireland.

Truss said on Wednesday that her preference is to find a negotiated settlement with the EU to resolve the issues around the contentious rules that govern post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland.

Her first call to a fellow national leader was to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, pledging the United Kingdom's continued "full backing" in the conflict with Russia. Zelensky replied that he felt the pair "will be able to build a profound and productive relationship", and invited her to visit Kyiv.

She also spoke to United States President Joe Biden, with the White House's account of their discussion mentioning that topics had included a "shared commitment to protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the importance of reaching a negotiated agreement with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol", an unresolved diplomatic problem that underpins all hopes of better relations between the UK and the US.

In addition to the phone calls, Truss assembled her new cabinet and, after a drawn-out Conservative leadership election campaign, she moved quickly to reward her supporters.

Many of Johnson's old guards, such as home secretary Priti Patel and culture secretary Nadine Dorries, had already tendered their resignations. But the new makeup is also notable for the absence of Sunak's supporters, in what BBC political editor Chris Mason described as "a near-total purge" of his backers. The sidelining of these figures will not be universally popular among Conservative members of Parliament.

More than 38 percent of them voted for Sunak in the final round of voting among MPs, as opposed to Truss' 32 percent of the vote. That was before the final decision was made in Truss' favor by the party members.

Truss will be the country's fourth prime minister in six years, and it is hoped that her time in office can also bring more stability to the cabinet. Observers note that the ministerial reshuffle means that the country now has its 11th culture secretary in 12 years.

Agencies contributed to this story.