Liz Truss has left Balmoral after being appointed prime minister by the Queen.
Ms Truss arrived at the Deeside estate at 12.20pm, she left 45 minutes later at 1.05pm.
She is the first prime minister to be appointed at Balmoral and the 15th to serve during the Queen’s reign.
The Queen has invited her to form a government. Her cabinet will be announced later today.
Ms Truss is expected to give her first address at Downing Street at 4pm.
Ms Truss was greeted by the Queen’s equerry lieutenant colonel Tom White and her private secretary Sir Edward Young when she arrived.
Prime Minister Ms Truss landed in Aberdeen on a separate plane than Boris Johnson.
Her plane was delayed for a time as it circled between Alford and Inverurie. It is understood crews were waiting for the fog to reduce at Aberdeen Airport.
The weather was no better at Balmoral with torrential rain off and on throughout the morning.
The Scottish environment watchdog has issued a flood warning for Aberdeenshire.
Thunder greets arrival of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss
Just before Boris Johnson’s arrival thunder also broke through, only to repeat just before Ms Truss was driven in.
Police lined each road leading in to the Balmoral Estate, sending vehicles back in the direction they came.
Some people gathered at the entrance to try and catch a glimpse of the new or old prime minister. However, the heavy rain quickly cleared the area.
Officers were also stopping people from crossing the bridge which leads to the Balmoral gates.
Only members of the press were allowed to get close to the gates, with some travelling as far as Europe for the day.
During heavy showers, reporters and camera crews sheltered under trees and gazebos, but braved the rain to make sure they captured footage of Ms Truss and Mr Johnson leaving.
There was no sign of any protests outside Balmoral today.
Boris Johnson was seen leaving the castle estate shortly before 12noon after spending 30 minutes inside. While there, he handed in his resignation.
The Queen will officially appoint Liz Truss as PM during their meeting. It’s only expected to last about half an hour. Outside, the press is braving the rain ☔️ pic.twitter.com/HS6lC7ozL5
— Ellie Milne (@elliem_milne) September 6, 2022
Queen ‘mobility issues’
Traditionally, the handing over power is done at Buckingham Palace, but Ms Truss and Mr Johnson were told to travel to Deeside to see the Queen, who didn’t want to leave her Scottish estate.
She has been experiencing ongoing “mobility issues” throughout the year.
Her Majesty was unable to attend several events during her Platinum Jubilee in the summer.
At the weekend, the Queen missed out on her “favourite” event in the calendar, the Braemar Gathering. It was the first time she had not attended the games in her reign.
What next for Liz Truss?
Once formalities are out of the way, the new prime minister will be under immediate pressure to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Ms Truss defeated Rishi Sunak to succeed Mr Johnson as Tory leader on Monday.
It’s understood she could be set to unveil a major new £100 billion package which could potentially see energy prices frozen until 2024.
Currently, her full plans are not known. But more details are expected to be announced later this week.
She is expected to address the nation from Downing Street later today as prime minister.
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