Who Is Liz Truss? Quick Facts You Need to Know About the New UK Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader

Liz Truss was chosen as the British prime minister and leader of Conservative Party on Monday after she defeated her rival Rishi Sunak by over 20000 votes. Liz Truss has become the third woman to be elected the United Kingdom prime minister.

Truss was initially against the issue of leaving the European Union. However, she later came out in support of Boris Johnson, who emerged as the hero of Brexit. The British media often compares her to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Boris Johnson Resigns As UK PM; From Partygate to Chris Pincher Scandal, Here’s a List of Events That Led to His Resignation

Liz Truss's full name is Mary Elizabeth Truss. She was born on 26 July 1975 in Oxford, England to John Kenneth and Priscilla Marie Truss. Her father was a mathematics professor at the University of Leeds, while her mother was a nurse. When Truss was four years old, her family moved to Scotland. Here she did her early studies. After a few years, she shifted to Canada. In 1996 Truss studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Merton College, Oxford.

While attending Merton College, Truss campaigned for the Liberal Democrats party. She has also been the chair of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats. Apart from this, she was also a member of the National Executive of Liberal Democrats Youth and Students. As a student leader, Truss also campaigned extensively for the Labor Party. However, after graduation, in 1996, she left the Democrats and joined the Conservative Party. UK PM Candidate Liz Truss Under Fire Over 'Jury is Out' Remark on French President Emmanuel Macron

From 1996 to 2000, Truss worked as an accountant for Shell. She has also worked in the UK telecommunication company Cable & Wireless where she reached to the position of economic director. She left the company in 2005. Truss also contested the Greenwich London Borough Council elections in 1998 and 2002, although they were defeated in both. On May 4, 2006, she won the first election as a councillor. After this, in 2010, she was elected MP for the first time.

Two years after becoming an MP, she also became the Minister of Education. As an education minister, after a survey found that by the age of 18 only 20 percent of British students are able to read mathematics, she made maths compulsory for full-time children. She was made Environment Minister in 2014.

The Conservative party leadership contest was triggered when Johnson was forced to step down after a flurry of more than 50 resignations hit Boris as his own team turned on him over his scandal-ridden premiership.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 05, 2022 05:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).