Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Truss (born 26 July 1975) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 6 September to 25 October 2022, succeeding Boris Johnson and preceding Rishi Sunak.
Biography[]
Mary Elizabeth Truss was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England in 1975, the daughter of left-wing activist parents. She was raised in Paisley, Scotland and Leeds, England before becoming active with the Liberal Democrats during her time at Oxford University, supporting the legalization of cannabis, the abolition of the monarchy, and opposing a 1994 crime bill which clamped down on "anti-social" behaviors. However, she underwent a personal political realignment and joined the Conservative Party in 1996, and she worked as an accountant for Shell from 1996 to 2000, as the chair of the Lewisham Deptford Conservative Association from 1998 to 2000, as executitve director for Cable & Wireless from 2000 to 2005, as a councillor for Eltham South from 2006 to 2010, and as MP for South West Norfolk from 2010. Truss belonged to her party's right-wing, supporting free market capitalism, free trade, a hawkish foreign policy, embracing the British Empire's imperfect history, gay rights (but not transgender rights), animal welfare, and fracking in supportive communities. From 2021 to 2022, she served as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Foreign Secretary, during which time she was strongly supportive of Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and called on the G7 countries to limit the importation of oil and natural gas from Russia. On Johnson's resignation as Prime Minister in 2022, Truss entered the Conservative Party leadership contest and pledged to cut taxes on day one and help people deal with the escalating cost of living; she defeated Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak with 57.4% of the vote and became Prime Minister on 6 September 2022.
During the first month of her premiership, Truss implemented tax cuts which were seen as tone-deaf, benefiting the rich at a time when most Britons were suffering from a cost-of-living crisis (partly caused by the war in Ukraine and the associated rise in energy bills). Her economic policies sent the economy into a tailspin, and the value of the pound plummeted; she was forced to abandon her tax cuts for the rich, while promising future tax cuts. In October, Truss was confronted with both an economic and political crisis as her firing of Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng over the mini-budget's failure and Home Secretary Suella Braverman over sharing sensitive information on her personal phone resulted in a series of resignations and calls for Truss to stand down. On 20 October 2022, Truss announced her resignation just 45 days into her tenure, and she was succeeded by Rishi Sunak five days later.