Jonathan Edwards MP has described the appointment of Liz Truss as the next Prime Minister as “regressive”.

It was announced on Monday afternoon that Truss had won the race for the Tory leadership following a clear-cut victory over rival Rishi Sunak.

The MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr said: “In any internal party election, the candidates normally try and appeal to the membership of their party and as we know, the membership of the Conservative Party are extremely right wing and regressive, so she’s served up a lot of red meat for the Tory membership.

“The problem is, I don’t think it’s a manifesto for government and the new Prime Minister enters power at a time of incredible economic and social challenges we’re about to face, pressures on everyday costs.

“This hasn’t occurred in my lifetime, it hasn’t happened in over half a century, what we’re about to face.

"The current generation of politicians are very ill-equipped and inexperienced in dealing with the challenges we are about to face.

“I am afraid the sort of things she has been saying during the Tory election campaign really isn’t going to help and is going to exacerbate the situation we’re about to face.

"When you have everyday living costs increasing, which disproportionately impact upon those on the lowest incomes, the last thing you do is cut taxes which disproportionately favours the richest.

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“Due to the scale of the challenge we face, the number one objective is social cohesion. Otherwise, you’re storing up all sorts of social problems.

“For that to happen, people have to be seen to be making equivalent sacrifices, and that means that you have to increase taxation on the highest incomes in order to support those on the lowest incomes.

“This problem isn’t going to be a six-month thing or a one-year thing. This could well last up until the next general election, and literally anything can happen until then.

"What we need between now and then is a manifesto for government which addresses those social and economic problems.”