Who is Liz Truss?
Currently the UK Foreign Secretary, Truss is leading the race to become the next Prime Minister of the country.
In the race to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, Liz Truss is pitted against her party’s Indian-origin leader Rishi Sunak. While Sunak has the backing of Conservative Party MPs as seen in several rounds of voting that happened recently, Truss enjoys great support among the party’s grassroots members. These party members from the entire country, and not just MPs, will vote on September 2 to decide who becomes the next PM. This will happen after several televised debates and campaigning among the people.
Truss has come on top in several polls conducted by conservative websites, and as of July 25, The Economist magazine’s live tracker said that chances of her winning were at 66 per cent.
Truss, 46, hails from north of England, a region that is traditionally a stronghold of the opposition Labour Party. The Oxford native herself identified as a Social Democrat, an affiliation close to Centrist policies, earlier.
Elizabeth Truss read philosophy, politics and economics at the Oxford University and according to a BBC report, from there on she became more inclined towards Conservative ideals of reduced role of the government, and greater role of the private sector in the economy. She worked in the energy and telecommunications industry for 10 years as a commercial manager, among other jobs in the private sector.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to contest elections in the 2000s, she won a seat in the House of Commons in 2010. In 2012, Truss became the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare, and later held portfolios related to environment, food and rural affairs, and she has referenced this experience in her campaigning.
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