Liz Truss has been named the next British Prime Minister after defeating Rishi Sunak in a leadership vote for the Tory party.

Ms Truss, who had served as the Foreign Secretary, will replace Boris Johnson when she is sworn in at a ceremony at Balmoral Castle tomorrow.

David Burt, the Premier, said this afternoon that the Bermuda Government looks forward to working with the new Prime Minister and the new Foreign Secretary.

“There are issues on which we must work together to the benefit of Bermuda,” Mr Burt said.

“From financial services to mitigating the impact of climate change, UK Overseas Territories will be looking for action during this period of global economic uncertainty.

“The new Prime Minister should be well aware of the problems being faced by Bermudians since the UK removed passport printing from the territories, and we will continue to press for the timely return of the BMU code to our Bermuda passports in addition to the faster turnaround of passports which are now printed in the UK."

Ms Truss was appointed as Foreign Secretary last September. She is expected to appoint James Cleverly, who was a junior minister in the Foreign Office and is seen as a close ally, as her successor.

Whoever is appointed will have a long list of problems starting with the war in Ukraine to tackle. But he will also have to deal with Bermuda’s passports and, more critically, to decide whether to agree to the Cannabis Licensing Act passed by the House of Assembly earlier this year.

Rena Lalgie, the Governor, reserved assent on the bill in May, saying it violated several treaties to which the UK and by extension Bermuda is a signatory, and notified the foreign Secretary of the decision. The bill remains in abeyance.