Postal and online voting closed on Friday after eight weeks of campaigning that Truss described to the BBC as “the longest job interview in history”.
The vote may not reflect general public opinion, however.
A YouGov poll in late August found 52 per cent thought Truss would make a “poor” or “terrible” prime minister.
Forty-three per cent said they did not trust her “at all” to deal with the burning issue of the rise in the cost of living.
“WORST IN-TRAY”
Whoever emerges as winner faces “the worst in-tray for a new prime minister since Thatcher”, The Sunday Times wrote.
The UK is gripped by its worst cost-of-living crisis in generations, with inflation soaring into double digits and energy prices shooting up on the back of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Millions say that with bills set to rise by 80 percent from October – and even higher from January – they face a painful choice between eating and heating this winter, according to surveys.
“If I’m elected prime minister, I will act immediately on bills and on energy supply,” Truss told the BBC on Sunday, while declining to give details.
“Within one week I will make sure there is an announcement on how we are going to deal with the issue,” she added.
Truss has campaigned on a promise to slash taxes and prioritise economic growth, just as Britain is tipped to enter recession later this year.
She said Sunday she would “within a month present a full plan for how we are going to reduce taxes” and “get the British economy going”.
Sunak has vowed further government support to help people pay their energy bills and said curbing inflation would be his priority, attacking Truss’s tax-slashing plans as reckless.
“Helping people with the cost of living and energy bills comes above everything else that I might like to do,” he told the BBC on Sunday.
“We shouldn’t rule anything out. I mean, we’re facing a genuine emergency. I think anyone pretending that that isn’t the situation isn’t being straight with the country,” he said.
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