Liz Truss has said she will announce her plan to tackle high energy bills within one week of being elected prime minister — but refused to reveal what it is.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, the frontrunner in the Tory leadership contest said she would “immediately”.
“If I am elected as prime minister, within one week, I will make sure there is an announcement on how we are going to deal with the issue of energy bills and of longterm supply,” she said.
“What I can’t do on this show is tell you exactly what the announcement would be. We still don’t know the outcome of this leadership contest.”
Truss added that while she was under “no illusions” about how difficult the next few months could be for people given soaring energy costs, the scale of the problem should not be overdone.
“I don’t think we should be predicting a sort of armageddon scenario,” she said. “I think we are in a good position to deal with what are very tough challenges.”
Voting ended in the contest between Truss and Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson on Friday.
The winner will be announced at lunchtime on Monday and will takeover as prime minister on Tuesday.
Truss is the overwhelming favourite. A YouGov survey of Tory members in August showed she held a comfortable 32-point lead.
The foreign secretary said she was not “complacent” about the result but added she was “ready” to lead the country.
Johnson and his successor will go to Balmoral, rather than Buckingham Palace, for the appointment of the new PM, in a break from tradition.
The Queen will receive Johnson at her Aberdeenshire home, where he will formally tender his resignation.
This will be followed by an audience with the new Tory leader, where she or he will be invited to form a government.