London: UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (47) won as British Prime Minister with a margin of 21K votes against the Indian-origin former chancellor Rishi Sunak. She would be named the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest on Monday.

She will formally take charge as British Prime Minister as Boris Johnson’s successor. She was the third Women Prime Minister of UK, after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May. The result was formally announced by the returning officer of the leadership contest and chair of the Conservative Party’s powerful 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, Sir Graham Brady, at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre near Downing Street.

Truss won 81,326 votes compared to Sunak’s share of 60,399 votes, Sir Graham Brandy. A combination of the Tory membership base’s lingering loyalty towards outgoing Prime Minister Johnson, whom they see as being betrayed by former close ally Sunak, and Truss’ pledge to cut taxes are among the key factors behind the British Indian MP failing to clinch the race.

Over 1.5 million strong Indian diaspora stood firmly behind the UK-born MP for Richmond in Yorkshire. Liz Truss won’t be until Tuesday afternoon that she can formally lay claim to her new office at 10 Downing Street after predecessor Boris Johnson hands in his formal resignation to the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.