The race for Boris Johnson’s seat has narrowed down to two. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will overshadow former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak if the polls hold the itch in the party’s membership vote.
At the beginning of September, it will be known who will be the next Prime Minister of Great Britain. At the moment, it seems strongly that the current foreign minister will be elected Mary Elizabeth or Liz Truss.
The race for the position of prime minister has shrunk to a struggle between two. At the end are Truss and the former finance minister Rishi Sunak. Sunaki has been considered the early favorite all along, and perhaps he is such among the members of the parliament.
However, the situation is different when the solution is left in the hands of the members of the Conservative Party. The party’s 170,000 or so members will make the final choice, and currently, according to opinion polls, it seems that Truss will get more support from them, etc.
The member vote is supposed to be over by the beginning of September, and the name of the new prime minister will be known on September 5
Published on Tuesday in the support survey (you switch to another service) Truss would get 54 percent of the votes if it was Sunak. The share of this would remain at 35 percent. According to Sky News’ analysis, Truss’ victory is not yet certain, but everything is now at stake.
According to the assessment, the winner’s challenge will be to unify the party, whose fragmentation is indicated by the fact that the last three candidates for MP’s votes received more than a hundred votes each.
But what is Britain’s Liz Truss like, who at the moment seems to be in strong position to be Britain’s next Prime Minister?
From demonstrations against the monarchy and finally to the Conservatives
Truss’ supporters see her as the new Iron Lady, and Truss seems happy to feed on similarities Margaret Thatcher’s and between themselves. Thatcher was British Prime Minister for three terms from 1975 to 1990.
For example, he has posed in a British tank and dressed in a televised debate, according to the news agency AP, in an outfit “scarily” similar to that of Thatcher in his time.
This is despite the fact that her parents, a mathematics professor and a nurse, took the girl as a child to demonstrations against nuclear power and Thatcher, where she is recalled to have shouted demands for Thatcher’s resignation.
Born in Oxford in 1975, Truss went to school in Leeds and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University. Then he also belonged to the Liberal Democrats for a short time and demanded the abolition of the monarchy.
He worked for the oil company Shell and the telecommunications company Cable & Wireless, as well as the think tank Reform. Around that time, he began to be involved in conservative politics and adopt Thatcherian free trade thinking.
The Conservatives still hold Thatcher in high esteem and thus now appear to be supporting Liz Truss. However, according to those who criticize Truss, he does not have enough authority to lead the country in economic turbulence and war raging in Europe.
Truss himself has written In the Daily Telegraph (you’ll switch to another service) that he is the only one who can carry through the necessary change in economic policy in line with the conservative party’s principles. He also believes that he is the only candidate who can respond to the increased security threat in the world.
A combative, but lumbering speaker
Truss made two unsuccessful bids for parliament, but was elected in 2010.
He became the Minister of Education already in 2012. Truss has also served, among other things, as the Minister of Equality and from autumn 2021 as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Truss was against Brexit at the time, but later changed his mind. Since then, he has negotiated several post-Brexit trade deals. According to the news agency AP, Truss has won over even the most ardent Brexit supporters of the conservative party.
The Eurosceptic wing of the party is especially pleased with Truss’ combative attitude and promises to cut taxes and direct additional money to defense.
On the other hand, the leaders of the EU countries have hoped in vain that Truss would soften his voice in Britain’s foreign relations.
His critics also regard Truss as a politician who clings tightly to his own views and a wooden speaker.
For example, the last person eliminated from the competition Penny Mordaunt supporter, ex-minister David Davis according to AFP, accused Rishi Sunak of “borrowing” votes to Truss in order to win over him.
– He wants to compete with Liz, because she (Sunak) wins the debate, Davis said in a radio interview.
Does the Conservative Party want a tax cutter?
Liz Truss has promised, among other things, to immediately cut taxes if she is elected prime minister.
Even the International Monetary Fund IMF has warned (you will switch to another service) Britain on the dangers of tax cuts, but the promise is attractive to members of the Conservative Party, says politics professor Tim Bale.
– Tax cuts during peak inflation may be a bad idea, but they fit the ideology of the Conservative Party.
Economic issues are at the center of British interest, but the immigration and EU opinions of the prime ministerial candidates also have a big impact on how members of the Conservative Party vote.
Bale believes that neither of the candidates will bring a big change Boris Johnson in line, for example, in EU issues.
According to Sky News’ analysis, it is also important that Truss is not considered to have stabbed Johnson in the back, as he did not demand his resignation – unlike Rishi Sunak.
On the other hand, Truss’s opponents point out that he is not a true conservative because he belonged to the Liberal Democrats for a short time when he was younger.