Liz Truss, the former Prime Minister who held the record for the shortest tenure in office, is making a political comeback this weekend. After months of relative seclusion, Truss is expected to launch her return with an opinion piece in the Sunday Telegraph, as well as a number of planned media appearances. She is also expected to deliver a “hawkish” speech on China later this month, which could add to the pressure already mounting on her successor, Rishi Sunak.
Truss’s piece for the Sunday Telegraph is expected to reflect on her brief stint in No 10 and explain where she believes Sunak is going wrong. She is also expected to call on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to cut taxes in the upcoming budget, a move that could stoke divisions among Conservative MPs.
Truss’s return to the international stage follows Boris Johnson’s own re-emergence, having made visits to Ukraine and the US. After her calamitous 49-day tenure in Downing Street, her former speech writer said she had taken a “Spinal Tap approach” to government, demanding the volume was “turned up to 11”.
Truss’s speech on China, delivered at a conference of international politicians in Japan, is expected to address Sunak’s decision to brand China a “systemic competitor” rather than a “threat”. This is in contrast to her own stance during her leadership, where she had been expected to officially designate China as a “threat”.
It remains to be seen whether Truss’s return to the political arena will be a success or a failure. With her opinion piece in the Sunday Telegraph and her speech on China, we are sure to get a better sense of her plans for the future. Whatever the outcome, it is sure to be an interesting journey.
Source: www.theguardian.com