Liz Truss was appointed new British Conservative Prime Minister on Monday and will soon take over from his scandal-ridden predecessor, Boris Johnson.
The 47-year-old, currently Foreign Secretary, will be officially appointed by Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony on Tuesday at the monarch’s Balmoral estate in Scotland.
Truss, a mother of two and a fervent admirer of British Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, will become Britain’s third female leader.
So who is the future British Prime Minister?
Daughter of leftist parents
Truss, who was born in Oxford and lived in Scotland in her early years, is the daughter of a leftist math teacher and a nurse.
Her parents used to take her to anti-Thatcher protests as a child where she remembers shouting, “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie – out, out, out!”
Truss revealed in a 2018 speech that she began developing her own conservative political views at an early age and often argued “against my socialist parents in our leftist household.”
Her family moved to Leeds in the north of England, where she attended a public high school, then studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.
She joined the Conservative Party after graduating, which she later recalled was “distinctly old-fashioned” at the time.
His marriage and a case that made the headlines
Truss married her accountant husband, Hugh O’Leary, in 2000 and the couple have two teenage daughters together.
Her relationship made headlines in 2006 when it emerged that Truss was allegedly having an affair with another married Conservative politician, Mark Field.
“I’m really sorry about that [affair]. It was a mistake I made and as far as my husband and I are concerned, there is water under the bridge,” Truss later said, according to the BBC.
His political career
Before entering politics, Truss had worked as an economist for the energy company Shell and the telecommunications company Cable and Wireless.
She also worked for a center-right think tank as she became more involved in right-wing politics.
Truss ended up becoming a local councilor in London and had two unsuccessful elections to Parliament before being elected to represent the south west seat of Norfolk in the east of England in 2010.
She got her first cabinet job as food and environment secretary in 2014, then became justice secretary in 2017 before being demoted to a more junior position in the Treasury by Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017.
When May was ousted in 2019, new chief Johnson elevated Truss – a Brexit supporter – to trade secretary.
She was promoted to Foreign Secretary, Britain’s top diplomat, in September 2021.
Enter 10 Downing Street
Truss will enter 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence, after beating former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership race.
Truss received 81,326 votes, compared to 60,399 for Sunak.
She faces immediate pressure to deliver on her promises to tackle the cost of living crisis and an economy heading into a potentially long recession.
“I will present a bold plan to lower taxes and grow our economy. I will take care of the energy crisis, taking care of people’s energy bills, but also taking care of the long-term problems that we have on energy supply,” Truss told his fellow members of the left after his election.
“I know our beliefs resonate with the British people: our beliefs in freedom, in the ability to control one’s own life, in low taxes, in personal responsibility,” she added.
“I know that’s why people voted for us in such numbers in 2019, and as leader of your party, I intend to deliver what we promised those voters across our great country.”
With post wires