As Truss takes the helm as PM - what issues are most important to young Tory voters?

Video and words by George Hancorn, ITV News' Here's The Story


"I didn't like Boris Johnson in the first place."

Roughly 160,000 paid-up members of the Conservative Party picked the UK's next Prime Minister, electing Liz Truss.

But what do two young party supporters make of the pair of candidates who made it through to the final two?

Kevin Ghateh and Gavriel Solomons are students at the University of Westminister and University of Hertfordshire, respectively, who chair their universities' Conservative associations.

Despite originally supporting Kemi Badenoch in the Leadership Race, the pair put their support in Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak made their final pitches to Tory members as the contest to replace Boris Johnson enters its final hours

According to research by Queen Mary University London from 2020, 18-24s make up 6% of the Conservative Party's membership.

Meanwhile, party members make up 0.3% of the total UK electorate.

According to recent polling by YouGov, the economy (61%) and the environment (38%) were ranked the most important issues that 18-24s were concerned about.

What has the winning candidate been saying about policies that will affect young people the most?

Education

Ahead of becoming prime minister, Ms Truss planned to change the way students are accepted into university.

She wanted to reform the admissions process so that students apply after collecting their exam results, rather than being based on predicted grades.

It follows a pledge for pupils with top A-level grades to automatically be invited to apply to interview at Oxbridge.

Meanwhile, during the leadership race, Mr Sunak said that if elected, he'd phase out university degrees that he claims "do not improve earning potential".

After not securing a place in Truss' cabinet - instead taking a place on the back benches - it's unclear how much influence Sunak could have on future policy.

Green issues

Both candidates agreed to stick to a manifesto pledge of reaching net zero by 2050.

Liz Truss said that if she was handed the keys to Number 10 she'd suspend the 'green levy', a levy on energy bills to pay for social and green projects.

Truss is due to announce a package of measures to help the country tackle rising bills.

Mr Sunak pledged to scrap the ban on building new onshore windfarms and would accelerate offshore windfarms.

As Ms Truss completes her cabinet line up - with some junior ministers still being appointed - will these policies come to fruition?