LIZ TRUSS CROWNED UK'S 'BIG CHEESE' AS SHE BECOMES THE COUNTRIES THIRD FEMALE PM

After months battling it out against leadership rival and former chancellor, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss has succeeded in gaining a majority over 81 thousand to become the third female conservative leader and accordingly the third female to take the office of Prime Minister, following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.

The announcement was made shortly after 12:40pm this afternoon (5th September) by chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, Sir Graham Brady.

172,437 eligible members cast their votes with an 82.6% turnout.

Ms Truss is expected to be joined in 10 Downing Street by Hugh O’Leary, her husband of 22 years and their two daughters as she takes on her new role.

Earlier today, pollsters put Sunak's chances of winning at a lowly 2% after it was evident that Truss had gained a healthy majority.

The former foreign secretary will take over from former PM, Boris Johnson who stepped down earlier in July this year after an onslaught of accusations and subsequent a fine over his conduct and partying during the country wide lockdown which he himself had imposed.

The new PM will be under pressure from the start as the country awaits to hear how she will tackle the rising costs of living, energy crisis and the impact caused by the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.

A freeze on energy bills is one of a number of options available to her in tackling the soaring cost of gas and electricity which is causing misery for the majority of the country. The freeze would come at a cost of higher energy prices spread over the next decade.

Whitehall is reportedly working on a number of options for the PM to take and the nation will be eagerly watching to see just what help is available to avoid millions entering energy poverty over the winter months.

Meanwhile those hoping for a thaw in relations between the UK and Russia will not be happy to hear that spokesman Dmitry Peskov does not expect relations to change under the new PM.

Russia recently plied even more pressure on the EU by shutting down it's Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline and cutting off its supply of gas to the EU, stating that it needs to make essential repairs. This is expected to raise gas prices which will be passed on to the consumers.

Ms Truss has implied that she would reverse a ban on controversial fracking in an attempt to make the country more energy independent, prompting a backlash from environmentalists who have campaigned for decades against it.