Liz Truss

Analysis: in the most unpredictable leadership race in years, MPs' vote was closer than final two would have liked.

But she did have the advantage of Tuesday night’s result, which knocked out Badenoch. Truss’s team were fishing for votes in an easier pool, with her having positioned herself as the flagbearer of the right of the party. Many of those she already knows; Truss has always prioritised outreach to her parliamentary colleagues, holding surgeries in the tea rooms and hosting “fizz with Liz” (a term that has become legendary in SW1 but which her allies say she has never used). Since the race began, Truss has declined all broadcast interviews, apart from the debates, focusing on honing her message to MPs. She convinced a new generation of “red wall” MPs that she could be the standard bearer for Brexit, showing her commitment to the cause with evidence of trade deals signed and the Northern Ireland protocol bill.

If it's not the pictures of her standing atop a tank in a nod to Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher, it's the meme-defining moment when she vented her ...

Others believe she can steady the ship after Johnson's turbulent three years in power. Her robust stance on Russia, China and with Brussels over Brexit will also feature in the campaign. She criticised the monarchy when a member of the more centrist Liberal Democrats at the University of Oxford, and described her conversion to conservatism as a "rebellion" spurred by a belief that people "should succeed on merit". "Now is the time for boldness, not a business-as-usual approach," she said on Tuesday in a pointed reference to Sunak who has said he would not reduce taxes immediately. Born to parents she describes as "left-wing", her mother, a nurse and a teacher, and her father, a maths lecturer, took her on demonstrations against then Conservative prime minister Thatcher, now her political idol. For many, she was a figure of fun, but for those in the governing Conservative Party choosing who should replace Boris Johnson, it is her conversion to passionate Brexit supporter and her offer of tax cuts that have propelled her to within touching distance of becoming Britain's next prime minister.

The UK foreign secretary is now the hot favorite to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.

"It was another example of the focus on messaging over substance." "I honestly think it's already over," one supportive MP said Wednesday. "She's no good at the hustings — we saw that last week — but it doesn't matter a jot. More colleagues rushed to Truss this week, he added, as it became clear she had a real shot at the top job. Both his Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg rowed in behind her campaign and were unafraid to get personal with her rivals. A YouGov poll of Tory members this week suggested that in a run-off between Truss and Sunak, it would be the foreign secretary who comes out on top. “We think that debate crystallized in people’s minds that she was someone who could really take it to Rishi," an aide said. She was then widely judged to have performed disastrously in the first of two televised leadership debates, and has continued to poll poorly among the general public over which candidate would make the best prime minister. “It's all about who has the most friends," one supportive MP explained. Truss has pledged to cancel his planned 6p rise in corporation tax, and abolish a £12 billion increase in national insurance contributions. Similarly, Truss appears to have picked up crucial votes at the 11th hour from her right-wing rival Kemi Badenoch, who was eliminated Tuesday night. Truss had been slow to launch, stuck abroad in Indonesia on ministerial duty when the Johnson regime imploded earlier this month. She now finds herself the hot favorite to win the race for No. 10 Downing Street.

Whoever wins when the result is announced on September 5 will inherit some of the most difficult conditions in Britain in decades.

Truss might struggle at the hustings against Sunak, who is more relaxed in public appearances. It can be a divisive and difficult place,” she said in a statement. In a statement, she added: “As prime minister I would hit the ground running from day one, unite the party and govern in line with Conservative values.” “I am in it to win it,” she said to reporters. Whoever triumphs when the result is announced on September 5 will inherit some of the most difficult conditions in Britain in decades. The vitriol between the candidates also poses the question of how well any new leader will be able to govern, with Johnson still popular with many in the party and country, and the party increasingly split between its various factions.

Liz Truss has undergone a political reinvention to become the favorite to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative party and UK Prime Minister.

Up to 200000 Conservative Party members will vote over August for the next party leader and prime minister, with the result announced on September 5.

Sunak and Truss will now go into a head-to-head contest to secure the backing of Conservative Party members over the summer. Two ballot papers were spoilt. Trade minister Penny Mordaunt was knocked out of the contest in the final round of voting by Conservative MPs on Wednesday.

TORY LEADERSHIP hopeful Liz Truss has been praised by Jacob Rees-Mogg for her 'loyalty' as he took a swipe at her rival Rishi Sunak.

Jacob Rees-Mogg says he supports Liz Truss to be the next leader of the Tory Party because she "stuck by the Prime Minister", and "wasn't setting up her own website to campaign against him." — The News Desk (@TheNewsDesk) @KateEMcCann The Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency said he was backing Ms Truss as she had “stuck by the Prime Minister” and was not “setting up her own website to campaign against him”, unlike the former Chancellor whose resignation helped turn the tide against Boris Johnson.

The two candidates in the Conservative leadership race are setting out their pitches to the party members who will choose Boris Johnson's successor. · Rishi ...

Writing in the Daily Mail, Ms Truss said "the central issue at the next election is going to be the economy" and "we have been going in the wrong direction on tax". In the Daily Telegraph, Mr Sunak wrote that he believed in "hard work, family and integrity", adding: "I am running as a Thatcherite, and I will govern as a Thatcherite." Mr Sunak has previously said the tax burden needed to be reduced but not immediately, saying it was a matter of "when not if". She also pledged to bring in an emergency budget to get the changes through quickly and to announce a spending review to "find more efficiencies in government spending". Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Sunak said he would introduce "a set of reforms as radical as the ones Margaret Thatcher drove through in the 1980s". There were gasps at how close the election to make the final two was and a real awareness of the responsibility party members now carry, on behalf of the country.

The leadership election now heads into its second phase, with Conservative party members choosing between the former chancellor and foreign secretary.

Truss will have to answer for the fact that she continues to serve in his cabinet to this day. Truss was educated at a school in the suburbs of Leeds in northern England, where she has indicated she saw children being “let down” by the education system – something that others at the school at the same time have disputed. This and the couple’s immense wealth are often pointed to as problems for a politician attempting to reach an electorate in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Sunak argues that he is the only candidate telling the public the uncomfortable truth, but that’s a hard sell for anyone hoping to become a popular prime minister, whether it’s true or not. Some are personal and raise questions about how the general public will respond to him in a general election. Elected to parliament for the safe seat of Richmond, North Yorkshire in 2015, Sunak’s rise to the top has been meteoric.

Bosses at BBC Broadcasting House and Channel 4 Horseferry Road will be examining Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss's record on public broadcasting.

BBC bosses have said they are open to new models and are due to set out the principles of future funding in the coming weeks but losing a guaranteed £3.8B ($4.6B) a year would be a blow. Both broadcasters took a battering from Johnson’s firebrand Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, via a recently announced review into the future of the BBC licence fee and, more existentially, legislation to privatize Channel 4. Of concern to the BBC, however, Politico reported last week that Sunak has said in private that he would be willing to scrap the £159 ($190) per year annual licence fee and look to alternative funding models when the BBC Charter expires in 2027.

LONDON (AP) — Fans of Liz Truss think she is the new Iron Lady. Britain's foreign secretary is one of the two final contenders to replace Boris Johnson as ...

But EU leaders and officials hoping she would bring a softer tone to the U.K.’s relations with the bloc have been disappointed. In Britain’s 2016 referendum on whether to leave the European Union, Truss backed the losing “remain” side. As foreign secretary, Truss has been front and center in Britain’s support for Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia over the invasion of its neighbor. She ran unsuccessfully for Parliament twice before being elected to represent the eastern England seat of Southwest Norfolk in 2010. Many praise her firm response to the invasion of Ukraine, and she secured the release of two British nationals jailed in Iran where her predecessors had failed. Britain’s foreign secretary is one of the two final contenders to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and prime minister.

UK foreign secretary shrugs off accusations of fiscal irresponsibility after entering final round of Tory leadership contest.

Many call her the 'new Iron Lady'. Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who had a slow start to the leadership campaign, has made it to the final two and ...

Truss played the rule of Thatcher in school and now she might go on to become prime minister for real. As a child, she went to anti-nuclear and anti-Thatcher protests, where she recalled shouting. But interestingly, Truss is the daughter of a left-leaning math professor and a nurse. She laughed over a question on the feeling the pinch after all the cuts and then floundered. As her campaign faltered during the early voting rounds, she promised tax cuts worth millions of pounds. Active in student politics, she was first a supporter of the Liberal Democrats before switching to the Conservative Party and now calls herself a Tory loyalist. “I am putting myself forward because I can lead, deliver and make the tough decisions. As environment secretary, she said during a Conservative Party conference, “In December I'll be in Beijing, opening up new pork markets!” Then waiting for applause, she stood there with a self-pleasing grin. Two years on, she entered government as an education minister and was promoted by then PM David Cameron to environment secretary in 2014. “I want to see us eating more British food here in Britain… That. Is. A. Disgrace.” She worked as the deputy director of the right-of-centre Reform think tank, reports BBC. Her passionate speech about pork markets in 2014 turned her into a viral meme.

As a seven-year-old in 1983, Liz Truss played the role of Britain's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in her school's mock elections but failed to get ...

founded firmly on Conservative values" and took aim at the cultural influence of "post-modern philosophy". In 2020, she revealed more of her cultural beliefs in a speech in which she called for "a new approach to equality... She has described herself as a "disruptor-in-chief" and an enemy of "burdensome red tape". Truss was promoted to government in 2012, becoming a minister in the education department, then the first female justice minister before taking on the role of chief secretary to the Treasury. Truss has been a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson during his turbulent three years in Downing Street, and has presented herself as the torchbearer of his "boosterish" vision of Britain's place in the world. But she insisted recently that she is her "own person" and "not trying to emulate anybody".

Those responsible for her imprisonment have still not been sanctioned, despite the Foreign Office knowing their identities, says Richard Ratcliffe.

Richard Ratcliffe is the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was held hostage in Iran between 2016 and 2022. Unlike the US, the UK has seemingly been pretty sanguine about the torture and hostage-taking of its citizens. The quiet growth of hostage diplomacy is not unique to Iran, as recent actions by Russia demonstrate. The swirling pace of the musical chairs means that some things don’t get seen, and the quiet stuff risks not being delivered. I also understand that his officers enforced the last-minute, forced, and therefore fake confession of Nazanin, and subsequently blocked the furlough of other British nationals in defiance of what had been agreed with the United Kingdom.” This is exactly the opposite of what a free media is all about. Most have been looking for a critique of Liz Truss and her campaign’s claim that she was the one who brought my wife Nazanin home after she had been imprisoned in Iran. During these past months Iran’s hostage diplomacy has escalated, with a new wave of European hostages coming to light. However, the way this was done had consequences for those left behind, a fact the government is reluctant to acknowledge. There is a continuing parliamentary inquiry that is trying to understand some of the decisions made. “Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour: a reporter with state-controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. She is known for eliciting forced confessions from prisoners in front of camera during interrogations. As Chris Bryant MP, co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Magnitsky sanctions, stated in parliament today, these included:

Liz Truss's now infamous cheese remark came during her speech at the 2014 Conservative Party conference.

However, she then turned stony-faced, telling the audience: “At the moment we import two thirds of our apples. We import nine tenths of all of our pears. And with Ms Truss poised to take the top job, an old clip of her speaking about cheese has resurfaced – and is being widely mocked.

Truss joined the Conservative Party in 1996, two years after her speech in Brighton as head of Oxford University's Liberal Democrat society.

‘We asked them they’re opinion of the monarch, do you know what they said? They said: “Abolish them. As a child, she joined her left wing parents at peace rallies and visited the Greenham Common peace camp as a seven-year-old. The 19-year-old explained how she had been outside the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and had, ironically, been unable to find supporters of the Royal Family. Truss has been forced to defend her varying political past today, commenting on both her years as a Liberal Democrat supporter and as a Remainer in the lead-up to Brexit. Footage of a teenage Liz Truss questioning the necessity of the monarchy has been unearthed.

Tory candidate says she was wrong to vote Remain and claims 'portents of doom didn't happen'

Truss said she would be happy to serve under Sunak if he wins the Tory leadership contest. Defending her plan to cut taxes immediately, Ms Truss also pledged to wage an ongoing battle the Treasury if she makes to No 10. She admitted her plan to cut taxes would cost at least over £30bn a year. “I think every day when I get up in the morning, ‘What can I do to change things?’” she said. “I fully embraced the choice the people of Britain made,” she said. The foreign secretary added: “The portents of doom didn’t happen.

The Foreign Secretary is battling with Rishi Sunak to become the next Tory leader and prime minister making it through the final ballot of Conservative MPs on ...

And that’s what I want to do in the job.” “We asked them they’re opinion of the monarch, do you know what they said? “We came across a group of three people. I am somebody who has worked all my life to get things done. I grew up in Yorkshire. I went to a comprehensive school. They said: ‘Abolish them.

Foreign secretary tells BBC her tax cut plans would cost roughly £38bn a year as she lays out campaign against Rishi Sunak.

In her paper, the clerk of the journals adds: “It is for the committee and the house to determine whether a contempt has occurred and the intention of the contemnor is not relevant to making that decision. This ruling is bad for Johnson because he has already admitted that some of the comments he made to MPs about Partygate were misleading. The clerk’s memo explains that while “much of the commentary has focussed on whether Mr Johnson “deliberately” or “knowingly” misled the Committee”, “this wording is not in the motion”. The committee will seek to take evidence from Johnson and others in public in the autumn. Johnson could face a recall petition, which could lead to a byelection in his constituency, if the committee were to recommend a lengthy suspension from parliament as a punishment. What is the gamble is what we’re doing at the moment because, currently, the United Kingdom is projected to head for a recession. What is a gamble is what we’re doing at the moment. This shows that the MPs are being exceptionally thorough – which is not surprising because an inquiry of this kind is unprecedented in modern times. What is the gamble is what we’re doing at the moment because, currently, the United Kingdom is projected to head for a recession. What is a gamble is what we’re doing at the moment. Truss claimed that “economic orthodoxy” followed by governments over the past 20 years has failed to deliver proper economic growth. Truss claimed that “economic orthodoxy” followed by governments over the past 20 years has failed to deliver proper economic growth.

The radical economic policies backed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss would set UK markets on a downward spiral, according to investors at some of the top ...

Liz Truss vows a new economic approach, as she battles with Rishi Sunak to be the next prime minister.

And where does she see the limit of borrowing? In her first broadcast interview of the leadership campaign, Ms Truss told the BBC she was "wrong" in the 2016 Brexit referendum, when she backed Remain. More borrowing, as she advocates now? Mr Sunak has previously said the tax burden needed to be reduced but not immediately, saying it was a matter of "when not if". He is expected to set out further policies in the coming days. It hasn't delivered growth." Meanwhile, Mr Sunak made his case in the Daily Telegraph, pledging to deliver "a set of reforms as radical as the ones Margaret Thatcher drove through in the 1980s".

Liz Truss, the favourite to become Britain's next prime minister, on Thursday criticised rival Rishi Sunak over his tax policies while finance minister, ...

"I have developed my political views and ideas. he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. He urged his successor to "cut taxes and deregulate where you can to make this the greatest place to live and invest". Truss's message to the members is that she is a politician of conviction who will "bulldoze" through institutions that stand in the way of reform. "I am a Thatcherite, I am running as a Thatcherite and I will govern as a Thatcherite." "We've got a really positive message to take out to all our members now -- crucially, who is the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labour Party at the next election?"

Experts reject Tory candidate's claim tax cuts 'will decrease inflation' – and warn of austerity era ahead.

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Tory leadership candidate details her proposals to cut taxes that she voted for as part of Johnson's cabinet.

About 160,000 fee-paying members – half aged over 60, 97% white and a large proportion male and from southern England – will have the chance to vote next month. “I think he did a fantastic job with the 2019 election, and that he delivered Brexit and the vaccines. The interview came on the day after she and the former chancellor Rishi Sunak became the final two candidates in the running to become the UK’s next prime minister. She added: “What is the gamble is what we’re doing at the moment, because currently the United Kingdom is projected to head for a recession. Robert Jenrick also appeared on the Today programme, in support of Sunak’s leadership campaign. She added: “We have had a consensus of the Treasury, of economists, with the Financial Times, with other outlets, peddling a particular type of economic policy for 20 years.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss extended her lead over former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in the race to be the UK's next prime minister, ...

Liz Truss claims her economic agenda of tax cuts and public spending will revitalise the UK economy, but it is not just her rival prime ministerial candidate ...

But one thing is for sure: “they will mean higher borrowing or less public spending, or some combination”, so vast swathes of Whitehall and welfare spending will need to come under the hammer. Truss is likely to cause consternation in financial markets if she seeks to meddle in the central bank’s decision-making. Harking back to Margaret Thatcher’s stance in 1979, Truss believes inflation is partly the result of cheap borrowing fostered by the central bank, so tighter monetary policy would limit rising prices.

Tory MPs and association chairs will lobby members to back Rishi Sunak amid fears Liz Truss will lose them their seats.

She was a Lib Dem. Who knows what’s she’ll be next. “She was remain. The MP added that many supporters of Ms Mordaunt were now “resigned to losing our seats” regardless of the outcome of the leadership campaign, but they believed Mr Sunak was better placed to limit the damage they believe will be inflicted on the party. The source added that supporters of Tom Tugendhat and Penny Mordaunt will now go back to their constituencies to encourage their members to back Mr Sunak over his rival. “Several of us will now urge our members to vote for Rishi. That’s not because we support him, but because he is the better option than Liz. I have several hundred members in my local association and I will be suggesting they back Rishi. A Tory source also told i that a number of Conservative association chairs have agreed to lobby against the Truss campaign in an attempt to derail her bid to enter No10.

Foreign secretary also leads ex-chancellor on key metrics such as trustworthiness.

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The Tory leadership hopeful, fittingly dressed in black and white, was met by the noisy demonstrators as she walked up to the Local Government Association's ...

A protester dressed as one of the furry mammals followed the Foreign Secretary with placards that read “I am innocent” and “176,000 badgers shot by Defra” (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Ms Truss followed suit by leaving via a side entrance, but her exit did not go unnoticed by the badger proponents. Ms Truss oversaw the culling of badgers as environment secretary as part of a programme intended to halt the spread of TB in cattle.

Patrick Minford is a fellow at the Centre for Brexit Policy and led Economists for Free Trade, both of which have strong ties to the Global Warming Policy ...

Truss has been linked to a string of libertarian think-tanks opposed to government climate targets. Steve Baker, an influential backbench MP and GWPF trustee who leads an anti-green faction in parliament, is backing Truss’ bid for leader. However, she has a record of working with free market think-tanks that are opposed to government action on climate change, and she has vowed to overturn the UK’s ban on fracking for shale gas.