META: Liz Truss latest: Tory leadership vote closes as race to replace Boris Johnson ends

Voting has now closed in the Tory leadership contest, bringing to an end the contest to decide the next Conservative leader and Boris Johnson’s successor as prime minister.

Either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will be announced as the winner on Monday, taking over as prime minister the following day.

The new prime minister needs to offer “targeted” help on energy costs to the worst-affected households and businesses into 2023, chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said.

Mr Zahawi’s Treasury has been drawing up options for action which the chancellor told the Policy Exchange thinktank would allow the new PM – Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak – to “hit the ground running” after the victor is declared on Monday.

Ms Truss has previously said her plan would focus on tax cuts not “handouts”, but said on Thursday that she would offer immediate support to those faced by unaffordable bills.

And the chancellor, who backs her bid to succeed Boris Johnson, made clear that he regards direct payments of some form as essential.

“We need to target the help to those families, those households, who literally have no headroom at all,” he told the thinktank.

Support announced by Mr Sunak earlier this year would cover only about half of the expected price rise this winter and will last only until December, said the chancellor.

“We need to look at January and then beyond that,” he said. “Why? Because I think we need to send a very clear message to Mr Putin that this strategy is not going to work that we are going to be resilient. We’re going to put help in to households and to businesses.

“Targeting, I think, is the right approach.”

The Commons committee examining whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over Partygate have not framed the terms of its investigation to guarantee he is found guilty, the Welsh secretary has said.

Robert Buckland’s stance differs from some Johnson allies, who have argued that the privileges committee is out to get him.

When asked whether he support their claims, the former justice secretary said: “No, I don’t. As a former member of the privileges committee, I can attest to their independence, the quality of the clerks who advise them.”

He said the next prime minister should ensure that the committee should not be impeded from carrying out its inquiry.

Lizz Truss has just sent a message to Tory party members, hours before the Conservative leadership contest ends.

The foreign secretary said she was glad to have met thousands of members over the past six weeks.

Ms Truss reiterated what she would offer tax cuts and reduced bureaucracy as prime minister.

“If I am elected prime minister, I will never let anyone talk us down and I will do everything in my power to make sure our great nation succeeds,” she added.

Conservative Party members have until 5pm to cast their ballots for the next prime minster.

Jon Stone takes a closer look at the group tasked with selecting the country’s next leader:

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said the UK has “no easy options” when it comes to the “headwinds” facing it.

The country has been buffeted by a steep rise in inflation and by a significant leap in energy and food prices.

Mr Zahawi said the government will apply some lessons it learnt from the pandemic, adding that he was looking at options to support the public.

Not allowing the Commons inquiry to investigate whether Boris Johnson’s Partygate denials would amount to a “cover-up”, Labour’s shadow Commons leader has said.

Thangam Debbonaire told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “This current prime minister needs to be able to show – and the investigation’s got to be free to investigate this – that he corrected the record at the earliest possible opportunity.”

She added: “Otherwise, I’m afraid to say, it just looks like the sleaze and the lies and the cover-ups that people have described it as.” 

Thérèse Coffey is tipped to take on the role of health secretary if Liz Truss wins the Conservative leadership contest, The Independent understands.

Two sources said that Ms Coffey, a long-standing ally of Ms Truss, was a favoured candidate for the position as NHS backlogs are considered a critical issue ahead of the next general election, expected in 2024.

The move would mark a promotion for Ms Coffey, from her current role as secretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Meanwhile, Priti Patel has told staff that she expects to leave her role at the Home Office.

“She’s been clear to staff that she doesn’t expect to remain, that’s been made very clear to staff,” a home office source said.

Labour MP Chris Bryant has condemned Lord Pannick’s legal opinion about the parliamentary inquiry into whether Boris Johnson mislead parliament, branding it “wrong on several counts”.

The government-commissioned advice suggested the privileges committee was “unfair” not to probe whether or not the prime minister had deliberately lied to his peers.

Mr Bryant, the privileges committee chair who has recused himself from the investigation, described Lord Pannick’s option as “bizarre”, saying it lacked formal status.

“Firstly, he fails to mention that the motion that charged the Committee makes no mention of ‘intentionally misleading,” he tweeted.

“Nor does he acknowledge that many aspect of Standards processes have changed over the years, including the introduction of the right of ministers to correct the record through a Written Ministerial Statement – which was used 200 times last year,” he added.

The Labour politician pointed out that Mr Johnson himself used the procedure earlier this year to correct his false statement that Roman Abramovich had already been sanctioned.

Mr Bryant said the prime minister should stop trying to “cow” the inquiry. “If Johnson has a good case to make, he’ll be vindicated. If not, he should take his punishment,” he explained.

Finance ministers of the G7 group of leading democracies have agreed a global price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products.