Elizabeth Mary Truss is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk since 2010. She has served as Foreign Secretary since 2021 and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, she has served in various cabinet positions under Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson.
Truss was born on 26 July 1975 in Oxford, England, to John Kenneth and Priscilla Mary Truss. Her father was a professor of pure mathematics at the University of Leeds, while her mother was a nurse, teacher, and member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Truss has described both as being "to the left of Labour".
Truss studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Merton College, Oxford, and graduated in 1996. She was President of Oxford University Liberal Democrats and a member of the national executive committee of its youth and student wing and subsequently joined the Conservative Party. In 2000, she married accountant Hugh O'Leary. The couple has two daughters.
After losing her first two elections, Truss became the full-time deputy director of Reform in January 2008, where she advocated more rigorous academic standards in schools, a greater focus on tackling serious and organized crime, and urgent action to deal with Britain's falling competitiveness.
Truss worked in sales as an economist and was deputy director at the think-tank Reform before becoming a member of parliament at the 2010 general election.
She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Childcare and Education from 2012 to 2014, before being appointed to the Cabinet by Prime Minister David Cameron as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2014 cabinet reshuffle.
Truss called for reform in several policy areas, including childcare, maths education, and economy, as a backbencher. She founded the Free Enterprise Group of Conservative MPs and co-authored some papers and books, including After the Coalition (2011) and Britannia Unchained (2012).
In July 2016, she was appointed Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor by Theresa May, becoming the first female Lord Chancellor in the thousand-year history of the office.
Following the 2017 general election, Truss was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Truss supported Boris Johnson's successful bid to become Conservative leader; after Johnson was appointed Prime Minister, he appointed Truss as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, before selecting her as Foreign Secretary in 2021.
On culture, Truss has discussed 'Woke culture' significantly, stating that the Conservative Party should: "reject the zero-sum game of identity politics, we reject the illiberalism of cancel culture, and we reject the soft bigotry of low expectations that holds so many people back".
She has also suggested that Britain should not ignore the history of the British Empire, but the UK should embrace the "warts and all" of the UK's history if they are to compete with hostile states.
Truss is the first female Conservative Foreign Secretary and the second female Foreign Secretary, after Margaret Beckett. She was appointed as the UK government's chief negotiator with the European Union and as the UK chair of the EU–UK Partnership Council on 19 December 2021, and she is known for her libertarian views on economics and trade.
On 27 February 2022, in an interview on BBC television, Truss was asked if she supported anyone volunteering to travel to Ukraine to help in its defense against the Russian invasion, and responded “absolutely”. She was later criticized by other Conservative MPs who said that such action would be illegal under the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870. Truss is seeking agreement from the international community to step up support for Ukraine, in the face of continuing attacks from Russian forces.
