The chairman of the Sandbach branch of the Conservatives, Councillor Mike Benson, has welcomed the news that Liz Truss is to be the country's next Prime Minister.

But he has hit out at the length of time it has taken to appoint a new Prime Minister to replace Boris Johnson and he apologised to voters for it taking so long.

Cllr Mike Benson

Liz Truss will be the country's third female Prime Minister after achieving 57 per cent of the votes over her opponent Rishi Sunak who achieved 43 per cent.

The announcement triggers the start of a handover from Boris Johnson, who was forced to announce his resignation in July after a string of scandals that saw support for his administration fade away.

He will travel to Scotland tomorrow (Tuesday) to meet the Queen to officially tender his resignation and Truss will follow him and be asked to form a government by the monarch.

In a victory speech, Truss vowed to deal with the current energy crisis and set out a plan to cut taxes moving forward.

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Cllr Benson, who represents Sandbach Town ward, said he was pleased the process had come to an end.

"Both were very capable candidates. It was a close contest and I am sorry it has taken so long," said Cllr Benson.

"Liz can now hit the ground running and tackle some of the important issues such as the Northern Ireland process, the cost of living, energy prices and Ukraine."