Kingston and Surbiton MP Ed Davey expects 'more of the same as under Boris Johnson' as the leader of the Liberal Democrats reacted to this afternoons announcement that Liz Truss will become Britain's next prime minister.

After weeks of ill-tempered debate, the foreign secretary defeated Rishi Sunak with 57% of the votes to his 43%.

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 on Tuesday to meet Queen Elizabeth 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.

She said: "We need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy.

"I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply."

However, Kingston and Surbiton MP Ed Davey shared no hope for change under the new Tory leadership and called for a general election to 'deliver the real change the country needs'.

Speaking to Kingston Nub News the Lib Dem leader said: "Under Liz Truss, we're set to see more of the same as under Boris Johnson. From the cost of living emergency to the NHS crisis, the Conservatives have shown they don't care, have no plan and have failed our country.

"The Government needs to scrap October's energy price rise to avoid a social catastrophe for families and pensioners this winter.

"Then we need a General Election, to get the Conservatives out of power and deliver the real change the country needs."

Truss will become the Conservative's fourth prime minister since a 2015 election and is expected to detail a plan addressing the country's soaring energy prices within days, with an announcement understood to be pencilled in for Thursday.