Comparisons with the ‘iron lady’ abound in the controversial political profile of the new British ‘premier’, where her radical conversion to conservatism and defense of Brexit is striking
Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Truss, 47, reaches the top of the British Government and the Conservative Party after a long process of political transformation. She is the daughter of a professor of pure mathematics and a nurse, whom she has described as “on the left of the Labor Party”. As a young woman she declared herself in favor of nuclear disarmament and used to accompany her parents to anti-war demonstrations loaded with cardboard missiles. She grew up in Scotland and in the English city of Leeds. At Oxford she studied the most common career among politicians: Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In college she was president of the Liberal Democrat students. From that position, she called for the end of the monarchy – “we do not believe that there are people who are born to rule” – and she led a group of ardent defenders of Europe. The shadow of this Europhilia has haunted her for many years after her decision to become a Brexit supporter.
Truss has culminated her aspiration to rise as the third prime minister of the United Kingdom. She worked for a decade in management positions in private business and made her debut as a councilor in a district of south-east London. In 2010 she entered the House of Commons and within a couple of years she went on to have a high level presence in national politics. She has served as Secretary of State for Education, Minister of the Environment, Minister of Justice, Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Minister of Foreign Trade and, finally, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
His active profile on social networks was already a sign of his ambition to replace Boris Johnson. Another is his confessed admiration for Margaret Thatcher. In fact, comparisons circulate between the ‘iron lady’ of the Malvinas war and the prime minister who must now deal with the Ukraine conflict. She hesitated at the starting line to succeed the controversial ‘ex-premier’ and regained strength until she was at the head of the race. Her Tories have rewarded her effort.
“Who is the real Liz Truss?” asked presenter Kay Burley on the occasion of a program on Sky News during the race for Johnson’s succession. The now convert, mother of two children, years ago branded leaving the EU as a “tragedy”. “I don’t want my children to need a visa to work there.” She also assured, in an official act in 1994, that “we Liberal Democrats believe in opportunities for all.”
He later changed sides and climbed the ranks to secure a predominantly Conservative seat in a rural district in Norfolk (eastern England). He won the position in 2010 and was about to lose it two years later when it was revealed that he had had an extramarital affair with the deputy in charge of guiding him through the parliamentary labyrinth. She saved her professional career and her marriage to accountant Hugh O’Leary, with whom she has two daughters. She protected from David Cameron, in the ministerial positions that she held, she left a trail of uncertainty and disappointment.
In 2016 there was a stage of enormous tension between the Government and the Judiciary. It was discussed whether Parliament should authorize the activation of the exit process from the European Union and the High Court ruled against the Executive. Truss was Minister of Justice that year. She voted to remain and ignored the justices’ call for help when the ‘Daily Mail’ tabloid accused them of being “enemies of the people”.
The “triple tragedy”
But Truss converted to Brexit. The ultra-Eurosceptic factions of conservative parliamentarians and activists support him. And that in 2000 he described a possible departure of the European bloc as a “triple tragedy” that would result in “more rules, more printed matter and more delays in trade with the EU.”
Johnson entrusted him last December with the tortuous implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement and, after a positive start, he cut off negotiations with the EU in a legislative challenge that has aroused the mistrust of the Commission and community leaders. Truss directs the initiative that throws ground on commitments sealed by the former prime minister regarding the control of merchandise in this province of British sovereignty.
For the Lord Chancellor, all these ideological lurches are the result of a natural process. Of course, without ever losing sight of the ‘Thatcherist’ rules: “Freedom, low taxes and a reduced State.” Her critics consider her a weather vane that moves according to prevailing trends.
In a Sky special, he suggested that the economic recession that the Bank of England projects for the end of the year can be avoided. “We can alter the outcome and make it easier for the economy to grow,” he alleges. Truss proposes to reduce the tax burden, at a cost of some 35,000 million euros, and abolish the ‘green tax’ on gas and electricity bills. It is a populist formula that pleases the Tory militancy, but it can cause the party’s defeat in the 2024 elections. “Truss is winning the race by appealing to the right of his party,” Professor John Curtice observes in ‘The Times’, while predicting difficulties in recovering the “crucial central ground” where the generals are decided.
The Conservative leader has a long history in the British cabinet and has seen three former prime ministers: David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Theresa May. In her last position at the head of diplomacy, she has been as tough as her former boss with the war in Ukraine and she promises to tighten sanctions on Russia. She has also announced that she will “reprimand” her president, Vladimir Putin, in person should she attend the planned November G20 summit in Indonesia.
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