From the child of the radicals to the door of No. 10… How Liz Truss was set up to challenge for Prime Minister
- Miss Trust had a cosmopolitan upbringing in Paisley, Leeds and Canada
- Left parents, John Truss and his wife Priscilla, took Liz to CND marches
- A source close to the family said she had to fight for everything with three brothers
It was the moment young Liz Truss became, in her words, “radicalized.”
As a child the foreign minister was outraged that she was presented with a ‘Junior Air Hostess’ badge as she boarded a KLM flight with her parents – while her three brothers received ‘Junior Pilot Badges’.
“I just thought: Don’t tell me what I can do or what I can’t do,” recalls the potential next prime minister.
Liz Truss (right) spent a cosmopolitan childhood living in Paisley, Leeds and Canada as her academic father rotated between teaching positions. John Truss and his wife Priscilla were both leftists who took their daughter to CND marches (pictured with a CND banner).
TURN RIGHT: At the 1997 Tory conference. After a brief flirtation with the Liberal Democrats, Ms Truss turned right after encountering Conservative students at Oxford University
It was a defining moment in a cosmopolitan childhood spent in Paisley, Leeds and Canada as her academic father moved between different teaching positions. John Truss and his wife Priscilla were both leftists who took their daughter to CND marches.
After a brief flirtation with the Liberal Democrats, Ms Truss turned right after meeting Conservative students at Oxford University.
Her political journey took her from singing “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out, out, out” as a child to speaking at the Tory Party Conference in 1997 with Mrs Thatcher in the audience. Ms Truss is pictured here aged 12 during a year at a primary school in Canada before returning to study at Roundhay Comprehensive School in Leeds.
Ms Truss is pictured here aged 12 during a year at a primary school in Canada before returning to study at Roundhay Comprehensive School in Leeds
A source close to the family said: “Liz had a vibrant, character-forming childhood. With three older brothers, she had to fight for everything. It was a very solid lower middle class upbringing, with lots of friends getting free school meals. It was a warm and supportive environment to grow up in.”
Ms. Truss cites the “stewardess” moment when discussing what she calls the “cult of female exceptionalism.” She once said: “Mrs Thatcher did not regard women as equals with men, but as their superiors…
‘Well, I don’t normally disagree with Mrs Thatcher, but on this occasion I do. Because I think it’s very important that we reject the idea that women are superior…or make better bosses.
“I find it just as bad as the cult of male exceptionalism: the idea that men are more decisive, mentally stronger or better leaders.”
LEADER: Wearing a crown at 12 in Canada. As a child, the foreign secretary was furious when she received a ‘Junior Air Hostess’ badge on board a KLM flight with her parents – while her three brothers received ‘Junior Pilot Badges’.
