Liz Truss: Mark Drakeford urges incoming PM to save millions from hardship

Liz Truss won 57.4% of the vote, beating Rishi Sunak

Wales' first minister has urged the winner of the Tory leadership contest to work with him to tackle the cost of living crisis.

Mark Drakeford appealed to Liz Truss to save "millions from hardship this winter" and said she had to act now.

Ms Truss, who won 57.4% of the vote, will take over from Boris Johnson as prime minister on Tuesday.

Senior Welsh Tory Andrew RT Davies called for the party to unite behind their new leader.

Meanwhile Plaid Cymru's leaders said energy bills should be cut to pre-April levels.

In a speech Ms Truss said she will "deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term".

A freeze on energy bills is reported to be one of a number of options being considered.

Tweeting his congratulations to the new Conservative leader, who beat her rival Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest, Mr Drakeford said: "We now need to work together, with urgency, to tackle the #CostOfLivingCrisis and save millions from hardship this winter.

"There is no more time to waste - action is needed now."

Speaking on the BBC News Channel, Mr Drakeford said previous comments from Ms Truss comparing him to a "low-energy" Jeremy Corbyn "do not matter to families throughout Wales who live in fear of what this winter might bring to them".

Mr Drakeford said he looked forward to "positive relationships" with the new administration.

But he said it was "astonishing that Liz Truss should suggest that what we need is to make ourselves more unequal in order to succeed".

Ms Truss said at the weekend that it was fair to give higher earners more money back through tax cuts, saying recent Tory policy has failed to grow the economy.

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She also promised a plan to deal with soaring energy costs within a week of entering Downing Street.

Ms Truss said she would "act immediately" to help with bills, but offered no details, saying she would need time in office to finalise proposals.

Senedd Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies, who backed Ms Truss, said: "There is a lot of work to be getting on with, especially in tackling the cost-of-living crisis, and I look forward to seeing Liz's ideas put into action to alleviate the struggle millions are facing.

"It is now time to unite behind our new leader, and further build on our record of delivering for Wales and the wider United Kingdom."

Seven Tory MPs backed Liz Truss by the end of the contest, versus six for Rishi Sunak.

Former Welsh Secretary David Jones, who also supported Ms Truss, told the BBC that it was "a convincing victory".

The Clwyd West MP said: "I have no doubt that the party will unite behind her".

"People are focussing on the next general election and divided parties don't win elections."

Plaid Cymru said the first action must be to "slash energy bills by returning the energy price cap to pre-April levels and extend it to small businesses and charities".

"The new prime minister's refusal to commit to concrete action on energy bills for weeks has made permanent damage to the UK government's credibility ahead of a catastrophic crisis," party leader Adam Price and Westminster group leader Liz Saville-Roberts said in a joint statement.

"Her cruel fantasy economics will secure her fate as the UK's last prime minister."

'Energy could cost me over a million'

Ieuan Edwards said the country could come to a standstill without help for businesses

One north Wales businessman said his energy bill is expected to soar to more than a £1m a year.

Ieuan Edwards, of meat companies Edwards of Conwy and The Traditional Welsh Sausage Company Ltd, called for Ms Truss to announce an energy price cap for businesses.

"The energy costs for my company last financial year were £129,000. My contract is coming to an end this month, so we've been going out to the marketplace and last Thursday we had a quotation of £720,000.

"I've learnt this morning, five days on that that quote has been revoked and that it could cost over a million pounds for me to pay my electricity bills.

"The government will need to step in and they'll to pay for it in two ways. First of all, they'll have to issue a windfall tax on energy companies and secondly, unfortunately, we're going to have to borrow the money as a country and it'll take us many years to pay the money back.

"But not to do so doesn't bear thinking. If we don't quite honestly, the country will come to a standstill, it's as simple as that."

Energy bills are the priority for voters right now.

Every Welsh Conservative MP I speak to - whoever they supported- says they want to see bold action from the new PM.

A big move on the issue from Liz Truss later this week could help allay fears of what the winter will bring and help unify the party after a divisive leadership contest.

Welsh Tory MPs were pretty evenly split on who to support in the contest, with Liz Truss accumulating support as her momentum built.

The Conservative backbenches got into the habit of being fractious under Boris Johnson but the Welsh party tends to row in behind their leaders in public.

With an election a maximum of two and a half years away, and a high watermark of Welsh seats to protect, they'll be willing their new leader to get to grips with the enormous challenges in her in-tray.

'What happens to me is secondary' - Buckland

Welsh Secretary Sir Robert Buckland, MP for South Swindon, has refused to be drawn on his future in a Liz Truss government.

Sir Robert, who switched his support from Rishi Sunak to Ms Truss during the campaign, was appointed to the cabinet by Boris Johnson after the resignation of Simon Hart.

He told the BBC: "What happens to me tomorrow is frankly secondary.

"I'm sure that when the calls are made tomorrow, there will be an orderly change and we will have a new cabinet tomorrow night".

He said the country was facing "a huge challenge" on the energy crisis and he said Ms Truss would "act quickly" on this.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds said: "The Conservatives may have changed leader, but after twelve years in power at Westminster the Conservatives have shown they are out of ideas, out of energy and out of touch."