UK's new PM to be announced today as Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak's race comes to an end

A new Conservative Party leader will be announced today, as Boris Johnson steps down as prime minister.

Either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will be voted into the role and by virtue also become the new prime minister.

Whoever that is will be under immediate pressure to announce a solution to the cost of living crisis, as households' and businesses' energy bills skyrocket.

Frontrunner Ms Truss is reportedly poised to introduce an energy bills freeze if she is selected as leader, according to the Times and the Telegraph.

The new Tory leader is expected to be announced at midday, following a vote held by party members.

The outcome of the vote will end Mr Johnson's premiership, with his replacement set to take the reins on Tuesday.

Speaking on the eve of the leadership announcement, Ms Truss vowed to act on soaring energy costs within a week if she is chosen to lead the party.

The Times reports her energy bills freeze package could be on the scale of the furlough scheme introduced by then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak when the Covid pandemic struck, while the Telegraph suggests the specifics of such a policy are still being debated.

Meanwhile, Mr Sunak, who has lagged behind his rival in polling for much of the contest, told the BBC he would continue as an MP if he loses the vote. The former chancellor has also said he would consider standing for Tory leadership again in the future if he's not successful this time around.

Ms Truss had used an interview on the BBC on Sunday to insist that she would within a week reveal fresh supports for struggling households, but repeatedly declined to spell out what those support measures might look like.

“Before you have been elected as prime minister, you don’t have all the wherewithal to get the things done,” she told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“This is why it will take a week to sort out the precise plans and make sure we are able to announce them. That is why I cannot go into details at this stage. It would be wrong.”

Whoever is chosen to be leader faces a swelling in-tray, as record inflation, rising electricity and gas bills, and increasing food prices place pressure on millions.

A new prime minister is due to be announced after incumbent leader, Mr Johnson, resigned from the role in July.

His resignation triggered a leadership contest within the Conservative Party, of which eight candidates had originally been put forward for the first round of voting.

One by one, members gradually began to whittle the list of hopefuls down, eliminating the likes of Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt in the process.

After several rounds of voting Ms Truss and Mr Sunak were left as the final two candidates.

Ever since, both individuals have been attempting to convince members of their suitability to lead the party at a series of hustings up and down the UK.

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The new leader faces a bulging in-tray - juggling flaring public anger over the growing cost of living crisis, along with questions over how to handle Russia's Ukraine invasion.

And just hours before the outcome of the leadership race was set to be announced, new official figures showed the incoming prime minister is facing a “heightened risk of recession.”

The widely-followed S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI survey on Monday signalled the private sector contracted in August after activity slumped in the services sector.It comes after the Bank of England last month warned the UK faced recession by autumn, while hiking interest rates and forecasting inflation soaring to at least 13%.

When will we know who will replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister?

The outcome of the leadership vote is expected at 12.30 today (Monday, September 5).

Once all votes have been counted, the official result will be read out by the Chairman of the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, Westminster.

The winner will then take to the stage and make a speech.

Tradition ordinarily dictates that Mr Johnson, will firstly need to meet with the Queen at Buckingham Palace and tell her of his intention to step down from the role.

However, in a break from tradition this year the Queen will remain at Balmoral Castle, in Scotland, due to her ongoing mobility issues.

Mr Johnson will hold his own audience with the Queen first, but before flying to Aberdeenshire he will make one last speech as prime minister at Downing Street, on the morning of Tuesday, September 6.