Liz Truss has been named as the new leader of the Conservative Party and Britain's next Prime Minister after defeating Rishi Sunak by 81,326 votes to 60,399 in the race for Downing Street.
The former foreign secretary wooed Tory members by putting tax cuts and big infrastructure pledges at the heart of her campaign. But with the economy heading into a downturn and just two years until the next election, she faces a race against time to deliver on her wide-ranging agenda.
Following her victory over Rishi Sunak, the new party leader will fly to Balmoral today, where she will be formally invited by the Queen to form a government and is set to confirm appointments to her top team later in the day.
Telegraph readers joined the rest of the world in reacting to Ms Truss's victory. Many reflected on the last two months of gruelling leadership hustings, highlighting those areas where it went right for the victor and where it went wrong for her rival.
Read on to see what your fellow readers had to say.
Many readers were relieved that Liz Truss will take the reins, suggesting her values aligned more with the Conservative Party than Rishi Sunak's. Her policies such as lower taxation to boost economic growth resonated with readers, while her conviction and positive outlook during her campaign earned her plaudits.
@Steve Oldfield:
"Liz Truss echoed the demand from Tories for Tory policies. The era of Brownite tax and spend needs to come to an end, to halt the decline into socialist mediocrity. Rishi Sunak promised more of the same, which is hardly compelling, while Ms Truss appears to be more in tune with the values of the Tory party. What a relief that she won."
@Alan Smith via Whatsapp Politics Group:
"Liz Truss was 'the change' candidate and offered hope.
"She was able to read the mood of the members better than Rishi Sunak, who tried too late to shift his position once he realised that his message was not as popular with the membership."
@Edward Rothwell:
"Liz Truss declared that she would encourage economic growth through a policy of lower taxation. We must do everything possible to free business to generate wealth - lower tax, lower regulation and encourage innovation and investment. Ms Truss indicated that is something she wanted to make happen, and that is ultimately why she won."
@Richard Hinchcliffe:
"Liz Truss kept her loyalty to the Johnson government and continued her role as Foreign Secretary all through the Conservative leadership contest. She also stood firm on the fundamental principles of conservatism: low taxation, small government, fair competition, strong law and order, decisive leadership and many other attributes."
@James Leeson:
"Liz Truss focused on a positive message of the future: 'our best days are ahead of us,' and told the electorate that the Party would have to make tough choices. This is in contrast to Rishi Sunak's less positive message of 'tough times ahead' and asking the electorate to make sacrifices. People prefer a positive message and outlook, whatever the realities of the situation might be.
"Sunak should've led with a positive message and then talked about the economic realities as a secondary issue that he would get on top of to deliver."
@Simon Nash:
"Liz Truss advocated change, whereas Rishi Sunak was thought to stand for continuation. People are fed up with the aimless drift and lack of clear principles and genuine conviction from their leaders. Ms Truss represented optimism and a promise to challenge the status quo. It is funny how the Heathite vs Thatcherite comparison still applies."
"Truss may or may not succeed, but she's promised to try, and that's what people are pinning their hopes on, because 12 years of centrist managerialism, lack of principle and short-termism, has led the country to its present state."
@Ian Emery:
"Congratulations to Ms Truss for her win, it is well deserved. She appears to be hard-working, adaptable and honest. She also has a better grasp of the Ukraine war, the know-how to boost the economy, to look after business and to drop taxes at this difficult time.
"She is a breath of fresh air and has a record of delivering."
There was not a common theme among readers as to why the former chancellor was unsuccessful in his leadership bid. The varied reasons seen to be detrimental to Mr Sunak's campaign included his lack of advocacy for change and new policy ideas, his resistance to lower tax, his pessimistic approach, his track-record as chancellor and his personal financial position.
@Nirmal Patel:
"Rishi Sunak fell for the media propaganda ahead of time, and I suspect so did the fence sitters - and that probably reflected in the difference at last. This election was 'shaped' by the media."
@Jonathan Collard:
"Personally, I never had a problem with Rishi Sunak's US green card status. It's an irrelevant point. Many of my friends with Irish or French backgrounds hold EU and British passports, and my own son has both US and UK citizenship. It doesn't necessarily colour your competency in a role.
"But, the 'non-dom' status of his wife really was an open goal and perhaps led to his downfall."
@Christopher Read via Whatsapp Politics Group:
"Rishi Sunak came across as slightly defensive of his policies as Chancellor, and lacked the necessary new policy ideas to generate confidence in his ability to deal effectively with the various crises facing the country at this time."
@David Booth:
"Rishi Sunak clearly has many fine personal attributes, and is very intelligent. Equally clear is the fact that he is not a committed politician. One may conclude that he was put into parliament to follow an agenda. Now he has failed - after back-stabbing Boris Johnson."
@Anonymous via Whatsapp Politics Group:
"Rishi Sunak's mistake was fundamental from the beginning. It was simply not credible to present himself as a fiscal hawk when he was directly responsible for the biggest increase in public borrowing in history. Everything he has said since has made it worse."
@Simon Page:
"Due to his family wealth, Rishi Sunak never had any real credibility relating to ordinary people and their concerns.
"He never expounded on real Tory values or implementing policies true Conservatives really want, which have been lacking in the last 12 years. Many Tories agree that the Conservative vote has been betrayed and Mr Sunak showed no signs of remedying that, whereas Liz Truss does.
"To quote Farage, Rishi Sunak is a Goldman Sachs globalist, which sums him up and his failure to get the crown quite well."
@Jane K:
"Rishi Sunak lost because he refused to promise what he knew he could not deliver, whereas Liz Truss won because she promised what the people of Britain wanted to hear."
Sign up to the Front Page newsletter for free: Your essential guide to the day's agenda from The Telegraph - direct to your inbox seven days a week.