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Phoebe Fuller

Liz Truss: new PM's life from Leeds roots to affair with fellow MP

Today, after a leadership battle that has lasted for weeks, Liz Truss was announced as the UK's new prime minister. She received 81,326 votes, to Rishi Sunak's 60,399.

Speaking after the announcement, Mrs Truss said that it is an "honour" to be elected as she committed to "growing our economy".

She said: "During this leadership campaign, I campaigned as a Conservative and I will govern as a conservative. And, my friends, we need to show that we will deliver over the next two years.

Read more: The oversubscribed Leeds school parents are desperate to get their kids into

"I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long term issues we have on energy supply.

"And I will deliver on the National Health Service. But we all will deliver for our country. And I will make sure that we use all the fantastic talents of the Conservative party, our brilliant members of parliament and peers, our fantastic counsellors, our MSs, our MSPs, all of our councillors and activists and members right across our country."

She continued: "Because, my friends, I know that we will deliver, we will deliver and we will deliver. And we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024. Thank you."

Ms Truss has been involved in politics for a long time, joining the Conservatives in the late 90s. But what else has she been up to in her life? Below, we look at her life, her Leeds roots and her famous affair.

Life

Mary Elizabeth Truss was born in Oxford on July 26, 1975. She has been known by her middle name from an early age, hence officially going by 'Liz'.

As a youngster, Ms Truss moved around a lot with her family. From Oxford, to Scotland and then to Leeds. She has also spent time living in Canada.

Before joining the Conservative Party, Ms Truss was a member of the Liberal Democrats. She has described her parents as being "to the left of Labour" and her father has been famously displeased about her move to right-wing politics.

Ms Truss joined the Conservative Party in 1996, a year before meeting her husband at a party conference. She has previously worked as an accountant for Shell and as an economic director for Cable and Wireless.

Leeds roots

Though Ms Truss was born in Oxford, the 47-year-old has spent a great deal of her life living in different areas of the UK - and even abroad. At the age of four, her family moved to Paisley in Scotland and remained there for six years.

However, with familial ties to Leeds, this was where the Tory MP spent a great deal of her time. Her father, John, was (and still is) an emeritus professor of pure mathematics at the University of Leeds.

As a result of her dad's job, Ms Truss was brought up and educated in the city; attending Roundhay School. She has since been very scathing of the institution - despite its decent Ofsted ratings - as she claims that it "let down" the children that attended.

She previously claimed that the school "failed" children, whom she believes were "let down by low expectations". These comments, however, were met with fury by fellow students - including the Guardian's Martin Pengelly.

Mr Pengelly penned a biting article in which he claims that Ms Truss was "not telling the truth" about her previous school. He said that he and other alumni were "furious" to hear Ms Truss' comments about her Leeds education and the upbringing that she had in a "red wall" seat.

Husband and affair

Liz Truss with her husband Hugh O'Leary after she was announcement the new Leader of the Conservative Party (PA)

Ms Truss married her husband, accountant Hugh O'Leary, in 2000. The pair first met at a Conservative Party conference in 1997 and they now have two daughters.

However, from 2004 until mid-2005, Ms Truss was having an affair with a colleague, who was also married at the time. The colleague in question was Mark Field, who served as MP for Cities of London and Westminster from 2001 until 2019.

Following the affair, Mr Field and his wife, former investment banker Michele Acton, divorced in 2006. However, Ms Truss' marriage survived the deceit.

Though Mr O'Leary told the Daily Mail at the time that he "[didn't] want to talk about it", Ms Truss has commented on it briefly in the years since. In a 2019 interview with You magazine, she responded that she is "really happily married", after being quizzed about the affair.

That same year she posted to social media a photo of her and Mr O'Leary. The caption read: "Love of my life." The couple are still together.

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