LONDON — Liz Truss is to become the UK's next prime minister after winning the contest to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader. But where did she come from and what makes her tick?

A Remain supporter who has become the darling of the Brexit-backing Conservative right wing.

A former Liberal Democrat activist, who marched against Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, but who now claims to be the keeper of the Thatcherite flame.

It is fair to say that Mary Elizabeth Truss has been on a political journey.

She may not be a household name like her predecessor at Number 10 - and she was not the first choice of Tory MPs to replace Boris Johnson.

But her promise to return to fundamental Conservative values - cutting taxes and shrinking the state - proved to be exactly what party members, who got the final say over who took over from Johnson, wanted to hear.

And, crucially, as foreign secretary she remained loyal to Mr Johnson until the bitter end as other ministers deserted him, winning her favour with Johnson loyalists.

Grassroots Tory supporters of Liz Truss see in her the steadfast, tenacious and determined qualities they admired in Margaret Thatcher - an image Ms Truss herself has tried to cultivate.

But despite her shifting political positions and allegiances over the years, these words also come up frequently when friends and family are asked to describe her character - along with "ambitious". — BBC