Liz Truss says UK can ‘ride out the storm’ in first speech as prime minister

Truss, 47, took office on a day of ceremony that saw her scandal-plagued predecessor Boris Johnson bow out in a defiant speech at Downing Street in London before both politicians flew to meet the Queen in Scotland for a transfer of power.Truss, who served as foreign minister in the previous government, enters office after winning the most votes in the Conservative Party leadership contest to replace Johnson, who announced his resignation in July in the wake of a series of scandals. Her appointment fills a monthslong leadership void that the UK has endured as its worst economic crisis in decades has worsened. In his But critics have accused her new-found hardline Brexit stance of being a cynical ploy. They have pointed to the fact that throughout her adult life Truss has evolved, from being an anti-monarchist Liberal Democrat in favor of legalizing drugs in her youth to the embodiment of the Conservative right today.Before the Brexit referendum, Truss said that she was “backing remain as I believe it is in Britain’s economic interest and means we can focus on vital economic and social reform at home.” Cabinet colleagues at the time said she never voiced any opposition to staying in the EU, despite having ample opportunities to do so. These days, Truss is more than happy to pick fights with Brussels and to claim that it was the EU all along that held the British economy back.Truss’ victory over Sunak, the former finance secretary, was smaller than expected, which means she may have to accommodate a wider range of views from her party. That could entail embracing more of Sunak’s ideas around the cost-of-living crisis, and a less aggressive approach to tax cuts. Many Conservative MPs are privately worried that Truss’ modern-day Thatcherism could cost them the next election, and will be leaping on the surprisingly low margin of victory to encourage her to soften her economic stance.