Who is Liz Truss, the favourite to become Britain’s next PM?

Al Jazeera:

Liz Truss, a right-wing politician of the Conservative Party, is currently favourite to become Britain’s next prime minister, to replace scandal-hit Boris Johnson.

The 47-year-old entered Parliament in 2010, and by 2014, she settled into her first cabinet position – secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs under David Cameron.

She since served under Theresa May and Johnson in various positions. In 2021, she was handed the top role of foreign secretary.

But she has not always been a Conservative. Raised by left-wing parents, she was a teenaged member of the centrist Liberal Democrats, and at 19, called for the abolition of the monarchy.

Now, “Truss is on the [Conservative] party’s right, and she is an instinctive free-trade libertarian and is not a natural supporter of levelling up,” David Jeffery, lecturer in British politics at the University of Liverpool, told Al Jazeera, referring to a policy touted by Johnson aimed at reducing inequality.

In the June 2016 referendum on European Union membership, Truss voted in contradiction to Johnson and was in favour of remaining in the bloc.