Liz Truss - Everything you need to know

Sarah Fefer

About Liz Truss: The right-wing Conservative Party leader Liz Truss replaced Boris Johnson as the United Kingdom’s prime minister on Tuesday.

However, Truss cannot be claimed to have been born and raised in the Conservative Party clan. Truss, who is now 47, was raised in a left-leaning home by her mother, a nurse, and her father, a professor of mathematics and even as a young adult, Truss was an enthusiastic member of the center-left Liberal Democrats party. Her policies Economic: Truss's top economic objective is tax reduction, which she claims would jump-start a stagnant economy and assist people with skyrocketing energy costs. She has pledged to remove a planned increase in company tax and roll back a recent hike in national insurance, which together will cost approximately £30 billion annually. To help with household finances, Truss' team has also suggested reducing income tax or decreasing VAT by 5%. Truss has claimed that her proposals would be funded by fiscal headroom (definition: surplus in government funds) and postponing the repayment of loans relating to Covid, but detractors claim she will need to borrow significant amounts at very exorbitant rates, which will have a negative impact on the economy. A tax cut-based approach to the problem of energy prices is likewise met with significant skepticism because it would disproportionately favor higher earners and do little for those who depend on pensions or other benefits (as tax cuts would also mean cuts in government spending). This however was expected as Truss has shown her dislike for "handouts".

Climate change: Despite the fact that Truss has emphasized her adherence to the UK's current net-zero aim and that her staff is adamant that she would prioritize renewable energy, her plans do not entirely align with these statements. Truss discussed suspending the green levies on energy bills, which are meant to fund renewable energy projects, as one of her few direct policies on the cost of living. Her opposition to onshore wind energy led her to call solar panels on fields "one of the most depressing sights" in Britain. However, She has endorsed a significant increase in nuclear power and favors fracking for shale gas and increased drilling in the North Sea. Although, she hasn't discussed initiatives to cut energy use, such as funding for house insulation.

Healthcare: Truss has not expressed specific plans in regard to the healthcare crisis in the UK. She has however briefly mentioned delaying the national insurance increase, which was intended to raise money to pay for better social care in the long run and, initially, to help eliminate the problems with NHS procedures caused by Covid.