Who Is? Liz Truss

By Ellis Asher

The following is a part of the Who Is? series covering the Conservative Party elections, click here for the other candidate, Rishi Sunak.

[Image by Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS]

History

The MP for South West Norfolk, Mrs Truss grew up in Paisley, then Leeds, claiming that seeing "too much talent went to waste" at her school motivated her to pursue politics.

Whilst The Guardian's Martain Pengelly tells a different story, Truss has a history in politics.

Truss founded the Free Enterprise Group of MPs, where she co-authored books and papers advocating for the free market and meritocratic positions.

The following year she landed her first job as a junior minister and went on to work as a minister in the education, environment, justice, treasury, trade and foreign departments.

Liz for Leader

Truss promised for tax cuts "from day one", including plans to reverse the NI tax hike implemented by Boris Johnson and his (then) chancellor, Rishi Sunak.

With public spending reaching all-time highs, Truss claimed she would "govern as a conservative" and that, if elected, she would reduce spending and set "competitive corporation tax" rates, scraping the rise from 19% to 25%.

Truss would also introduce welfare reforms, according to The Spectator.

This falls well within her reputation as a free-market conservative, citing economic libertarians like Thatcher as her inspirations for policy.

She has flipped on Brexit, on which she voted to remain.

"If I could vote now, I would vote to leave", she told The Spectator.

On the environment, she would temporarily stop the Green Energy Levy, and reassess how to reach 'net-zero', but promised to do so by 2050.

On housing, Truss would introduce "low planning zones" in order to make building houses easier in select areas.

A recent poll by ConservataiveHome put Truss at a 17 per cent advantage against Sunak.

You can find her campaign here.