Russia’s Response to the Election of Liz Truss as British Prime Minister

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Russia’s Response to the Election of Liz Truss as British Prime Minister
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Voting to determine the British PM was again held on Monday, September 5, 2022. As a result, Liz Truss from the Conservative Party replaced Boris Johnson who resigned last July. The news of the election of Liz Truss is also predicted to worsen relations between Britain and Russia.

Reported from the media Reuters, Liz Truss won 81,326 votes or about 57 percent of the votes for Conservative Party members. Meanwhile, his competitor, Rishi Sunak, who is a former British Finance Minister, only won 47 percent or as many as 60,399 party members’ votes.

Profile of British Prime Minister Liz Truss

Liz Truss is the daughter of a mathematics professor. Meanwhile, his mother is a nurse. Her marriage to Hugh O’Leary gave birth to two daughters who are currently in their teens. Liz Truss’ full profile is as follows:

  • Full name: Mary Elizabeth Truss
  • Place & Date of Birth: Oxford, 26 July 1975
  • Place of residence: London and Norfolk
  • Education: Roundhay School, Leeds & University of Oxford
  • Previous position: British Foreign Secretary

Liz Truss, The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady is actually the nickname given to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The nickname can be pinned back to Liz Truss who has many similarities to the British PM from 1979-1990.

Although in her youth Liz Truss was one of those who took part in demonstrations against Margaret Thatcher’s policies, as an adult she entered the Conservative Party like Thatcher. Liz Truss also added to the list of female British PMs, in addition to Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.

Born into a Socialist Family, Raised a Name Through the Conservative Party

Born into a family of academics and medical, making little Truss also became part of the civilian who rejected nuclear and British Prime Minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher. At the age of only seven, Truss had played Thatcher in a parody play with the theme of the general election.

Truss himself said during a 2018 speech, “arguing against my socialist parents in our left-wing house.”

Who would have thought, almost four decades later, Truss would become the leader of the Conservative Party like Thatcher who he mocked at the time. More similar, he is now the UK’s PM as well.

A libertarian and Truss’ college friend, Mark Littleword, was even more conservative than Thatcher. According to him, Truss is a person who not only has a firm stand, but is also stubborn and frontal.

The election of Truss makes relations between Russia and Britain more tenuous

Many British critics think that Truss’s leadership will not overcome the post-pandemic economic turmoil and Brexit. Not only that, London-Moscow relations are expected to be far from harmonious in the near future.

Russia, through a spokesperson for the Kremlin Presidential Office, also responded to the news of Truss’ election as British Prime Minister. Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would not expect much of an improvement in relations between Russia and Britain during Truss’s presidency.

Reported from the news agency TASSDmitry Peskov said, ““Judging by the statements made by Mrs. Truss while she was foreign minister, one can say with certainty that no change for the better is to be expected.”

The reason is, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Truss, who was then British Foreign Minister, often made anti-Moscow statements.

However, Dmitry Peskov also said that the other candidates for the British PM also seemed to be competing in the effort to voice anti-Russia. “Therefore, I don’t think that we can expect anything positive,” Peskov said, as quoted by The Independent.

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