Gedling MP Tom Randall has said today he believes incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss will remain committed to Nottinghamshire’s ‘levelling up’ plans.
Ms Truss was confirmed as the new Conservative Party leader on Monday (September 5), beating former Chancellor Rishi Sunak by winning 57.4 per cent of votes cast by Conservative Party members.
She will officially become Prime Minister on Tuesday after visiting The Queen at Balmoral Castle.
The current Foreign Secretary takes on the role following the resignation of Boris Johnson in July. Ms Truss will also become the country’s fourth Prime Minister in six years.
She arrives in the midst of surging household bills and with inflation hitting 10.1 per cent, with further rises expected.
But locally, she also takes on the job at a time when local leaders are on the brink of receiving more devolved powers from Whitehall and when Nottinghamshire councils seek more than £250m in ‘levelling up’ cash.
The new Prime Minister is expected to set out her agenda and reveal her cabinet on Tuesday when she will also make her first official speech in the top job.
Mr Randall, who had been a Rishi Sunak supporter, said: “It’s a very convincing result for her, she’s won hands down and is a good candidate and I congratulate her on her victory.
“It’s a tough in-tray, we’ve got the war in Ukraine, this unprecedented energy crisis causing serious issues and the Government will have to take action on that.
“There are some big issues here that will be difficult to tackle. But now this contest is over, it’s important politicians face these issues head-on.
“The message I’ve had is that we need to implement the 2019 manifesto, for which ‘levelling up’ was a key part of that. I do expect this agenda will carry forwards under the new leader.”
Councillor Ben Bradley (Con), Mansfield’s MP and the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, believes Tory Party members have picked the “right person” to deliver change in Nottinghamshire.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m really pleased Liz has won, she stood on a ‘small c’ conservative tax-cutting agenda and it’s something I’ve been looking for in recent years.
“She will have huge challenges to face, in the first weeks in particular, because there’s a huge expectation around what she can do with the cost of living and people are expecting big announcements.
“I would expect that to be cutting costs upfront, with tax cuts and green levies on energy bills that would be hugely beneficial. I think she’s the right person for the job for that reason.
“From a local perspective, clearly the biggest conversation we’ve got is devolution and we’re waiting for the legislation.
“She’s been very supportive of that, she was notified as the deal went through and was quite happy about it, otherwise it wouldn’t have happened.
“I’m fully expecting that legislation to happen and for us to work towards the combined authority, the mayoral election and the cash that comes with it.”
However, Nottinghamshire Labour has raised concerns over the appointment and called on Ms Truss to call a general election.
Cllr Kate Foale, leader of the Labour Group on the county council, said: “I’m pleased the Conservatives in Government are no longer distracting themselves with an internal squabble.
“But I fear another Conservative Prime Minister will not change things quickly enough to help those in most need.
“Listening to people on the doorstep I know that many are scared for themselves and their families about what this winter will bring.
“Liz Truss appears to have no empathy or concern for people on lower incomes, some of whom are key workers who are working hard to keep us safe and well.
“We expect the new Prime Minister to call a general election at the earliest opportunity so the country can elect a Labour Government to sort out the mess that 12 years of successive Conservative Governments have left us in.”
Liz Truss is thick as a brick; she cannot string two sentences together in a way that would pass English GCSE; she thinks tax breaks for the very richest are fair; she will say literally anything to install herself in Number Ten; she is an apologist for a criminal Prime Minister; she appoints a climate change denier as environment secretary and her idol ( for this week – next week, who knows, with this flip-flopping charlatan?) is the execrable Thatcher. So it is no surprise that Randall – way out there on the right of a far-right Brexit Party – supports this shameful appointment by a minute fraction of even his tiny-minded party. If you vote this waste of space back in in the next General Election, you are voting to bring our country to its knees. I know that, if you are a Tory enabler, you will deny this. But you ought to be ashamed of the possibly irreversible your divisive, deceitful, prejudiced party has done to our society since 2010. You act as if someone else did it, as you waver from one incompetent to another. But, Tory voters, here in Gedling, you have blood on your hands. Randall is NOT for you! He serves only to keep in power the party that does you down. Disown him!