Liz Truss: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2022

Truss was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 5 September 2022 to 24 October 2022.

The Right Honourable Liz Truss MP
Truss in 2022
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 6 September 2022 – 25 October 2022
Monarch	Elizabeth II Charles III
Deputy	Thérèse Coffey
Preceded by	Boris Johnson
Succeeded by	Rishi Sunak
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office 5 September 2022 – 24 October 2022
Chairman	Jake Berry
Preceded by	Boris Johnson
Succeeded by	Rishi Sunak
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
In office 15 September 2021 – 6 September 2022
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Dominic Raab
Succeeded by	James Cleverly
Minor ministerial offices 2012–⁠2022 Minister for Women and Equalities In office 10 September 2019 – 6 September 2022 Prime Minister Boris Johnson Preceded by Amber Rudd Succeeded by Nadhim Zahawi (as Minister for Equalities) Secretary of State for International Trade President of the Board of Trade In office 24 July 2019 – 15 September 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson Preceded by Liam Fox Succeeded by Anne-Marie Trevelyan Chief Secretary to the Treasury In office 11 June 2017 – 24 July 2019 Prime Minister Theresa May Preceded by David Gauke Succeeded by Rishi Sunak Secretary of State for Justice Lord Chancellor In office 14 July 2016 – 11 June 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May Preceded by Michael Gove Succeeded by David Lidington Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs In office 15 July 2014 – 14 July 2016 Prime Minister David Cameron Preceded by Owen Paterson Succeeded by Andrea Leadsom Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Childcare and Education In office 4 September 2012 – 15 July 2014 Prime Minister David Cameron Preceded by Sarah Teather Succeeded by Sam Gyimah
Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Christopher Fraser
Majority	26,195 (50.9%)
Personal details
Born	Elizabeth Mary Truss (1975-07-26) 26 July 1975 (age 48) Oxford, England
Political party	Conservative (1996–present)
Other political affiliations	Liberal Democrats (before 1996)
Spouse(s)	Hugh O'Leary (m. 2000)
Children	2
Father	John Truss
Residence	10 Downing Street, London Chequers, Buckinghamshire
Education	Merton College, Oxford (BA)
Website	www.elizabethtruss.com

She had been the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs from September 2021 to September 2022 in Boris Johnson's cabinet. She was the Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2017 to 2019 and Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk since 2010.

She also served as the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord High Chancellor from 2016 to 2017, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2014 to 2016 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Childcare from 2012 to 2014.

In July 2022, Truss announced her candidacy for Conservative Party leader to replace Boris Johnson in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. On 20 July 2022, Truss advanced to the final round of the election and faced Rishi Sunak. On 5 September 2022, it was announced that Truss had defeated her opponent Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership race. Truss announced her resignation as leader of the Conservative party on 20 October 2022 after criticisms of her leadership and economic policies which caused a national crisis.

She was replaced by Rishi Sunak after 50 days in office. She was the shortest serving Prime Minister in British history.

Mary Elizabeth Truss was born on 26 July 1975 at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England to John Kenneth and Priscilla Mary Truss (née Grasby). From an early age, she has been known by her middle name. Her father worked at the University of Leeds, while her mother was a nurse and teacher.

The family moved to Paisley, Renfrewshire in Scotland when she was four years old, living there from 1979 to 1985. She studied at the University of Oxford.

Truss was an active member of the Liberal Democrats. Truss joined the Conservative Party in 1996.

Truss was elected to the parliament during the 2010 general election to represent South West Norfolk.

On 4 September 2012, Truss was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education. In this role, she developed some of the policy areas that she had pursued as a backbencher.

In July 2014, Truss was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Truss said that she fully believed that climate change is happening, and that "human beings have contributed to that".

In July 2016, Truss was appointed as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor in Theresa May's first ministry. Truss became the first woman to hold either position and the first female Lord Chancellor in the thousand-year history of the office.

After Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, Truss was seen as a candidate for an important cabinet role because of her support of Johnson during the 2019 leadership election. She became Johnson's Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade. After the resignation of Amber Rudd, Truss was also made Minister for Women and Equalities.

In September 2021, Johnson promoted Truss from International Trade Secretary to Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, becoming the second woman to hold the position after Margaret Beckett.

2022 Conservative Party leadership election

On 10 July 2022, Truss announced her plans to run in the Conservative Party leadership election to replace Boris Johnson.

Truss and Rishi Sunak were chosen by Conservative Party MPs to compete in the final stage of the leadership election. On 5 September 2022, she won the election, beating Sunak by 81,326 votes to 60,399.

 

On 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II appointed Truss as Prime Minister. Two days later, Elizabeth II died at the age of 96. Truss is the first British prime minister during Charles III's reign.

When Truss became prime minister, she picked Thérèse Coffey, a close friend, as Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary. Truss also picked Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer, James Cleverly as Foreign Secretary and Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. This was the first time in British political history in which no white men were in these four roles.

Early during her time as prime minister, she was criticized over her handling of the economy through tax cuts and limiting energy prices. She cut taxes on businesses and reduced government regulation. Her tax plans were called Trussonomics and were inspired by by the economic policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, known as Reaganomics, and Margaret Thatcher-era Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson. Her tax policies were criticized by the International Monetary Fund, U.S. President Joe Biden, senior Conservative politicians Michael Gove and Grant Shapps, and the Bank of England. Her policies caused the pound to fall to a record low against the US dollar and an increase in the cost of government borrowing. In response, she fired Exchequer Chancellor Kwarteng and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt on 14 October 2022.

Five days after firing Kwarteng, Suella Braverman resigned as Home Secretary after 43 days, because of an "honest mistake" involving sharing secure information on a private phone. She also criticized Truss’s leadership in her resignation letter. Truss replaced her with Grant Shapps.

After strong criticisms against her leadership and economic policies, especially from members of her party, on 20 October 2022, Truss announced her plan to resign as prime minister after 45 days in office, making her the shortest serving prime minister in the history of the United Kingdom. She was replaced by former Chancellor of the Exchequer and leadership party rival Rishi Sunak on 25 October 2022, 50 days after being in office. The short length of her premiership was the subject of many jokes. This included a livestream of a lettuce head, comparing the shelf-life of the lettuce to her remaining term.

A poll found Truss to be the least popular UK Prime Minister on record. Many other polls ranked her as extremely unpopular.

In 2000, Truss married accountant Hugh O'Leary. They have two children. Between 2004 and 2005, she had an extramarital affair with Conservative MP Mark Field.