Liz Truss was elected as the new Conservative party leader, and therefore the new Prime Minister today (5 September).
But who is she? Here's everything you need to know, from her voting history to family life. Truss has been the MP for South West Norfolk since 2010, and has been a cabinet member since 2014 under David Cameron.
Born Mary Elizabeth Truss in 1975 to John Kenneth, an emeritus professor of Mathematics at the University of Leeds, and Pricilla Mary Truss, a nurse, teacher and member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Truss has previously described her parents as "to the left of labour".
READ MORE: Liz Truss pledges to 'deliver, deliver, deliver' as she succeeds Boris Johnson as Prime Minister
Truss was born in Oxford, but moved up to Paisley, near Glasgow, when she was four, and then finally settled in Roundhay, Leeds. She attended a state comprehensive school, which she claimed let pupils down through "low expectations", and now credits attending that school for inspiring her to get into politics.
Truss went on to study politics, philosophy, and economics at Merton College, Oxford, graduating in 1996. While there, she was president of Oxford University Liberal Democrats and a member of the national executive committee of Liberal Democrat Youth and Students (LDYS). She joined the Conservative party after graduating in 1996.
After graduating, Truss worked for Shell for four years, and ran for council seats in the Greenwich London Borough Council elections in 1998 (for Vanbrugh ward) and 2002 (in Blackheath Westcombe). On 4 May 2006, she was elected as a councillor for Eltham South in the Greenwich London Borough Council election.
Truss also ran as an MP in 2001 for the constituency of Hemsworth in West Yorkshire, and then in 2005 in Calder Valley, West Yorkshire, coming second in both elections. She was elected as MP for South West Norfolk, a Conservative safe seat, in 2010, and has remained in the seat since.
Truss married her husband Hugh O'Leary in 2000, and together they have two daughters. While an MP, Truss has campaigned on childcare and school reform, advocating for improved teaching of more traditional school subjects, especially mathematics.
Truss has been a member of the cabinet since 2012, first as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education, then in 2014 as Environment Secretary (2014-2016), Justice Secretary (2016–2017), Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2017–2019), International Trade Secretary (2019–2021), and then as Foreign Secretary (2021–2022).
Most notably, in her role as Foreign Secretary Truss helped to procure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from Iran. Liz Truss was initially pro-remain, and campaigned with David Cameron and George Osbourne for Britain to remain in the EU until after the referendum. Following that, she consistently voted for the UK to leave the EU.
Today, Truss won 57% of votes from Conservative party members to become the new leader of the party. She will officially become the Prime Minister when she and Boris Johnson travel to Balmoral Castle tomorrow to meet with the Queen. In her new role, Truss has promised to consider freezing energy bills across the UK to help ease the cost-of-living crisis.
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