POLL: Should Liz Truss make a comeback? Have your say

After becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in British history in 2022, Liz Truss remains one of the most talked-about figures in UK politics. Ms Truss became prime minister in September 2022 after Boris Johnson’s resignation, winning the Conservative leadership contest with promises of tax cuts and growth. However, her time in Downing Street became infamous for its brevity – just 49 days.

Her “mini-budget,” led by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, introduced tax cuts that triggered market chaos, a fall in the pound and rising mortgage rates. Within weeks, Mr Kwarteng was dismissed, followed by her own resignation. Despite this, she defended her vision as the right long-term approach for Britain’s sluggish economy. She was elected MP for South West Norfolk in 2010, and remained in that post until she lost her seat in last year’s General Election.

Now out of the political spotlight, Ms Truss told The Express’s podcast, The Daily Expresso that she is “still busy,” particularly “on how we actually make Britain a successful country” and “how do we get out of the morass that we’re in”. Some believe Liz Truss should make a comeback, arguing that her ideas on growth and free markets deserve a second chance now that Britain is struggling with economic stagnation.

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Ahead of the crucial Autumn Budget in a few weeks, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has blamed austerity, Brexit, and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini budget for her decision to raise taxes, a statement that podcast host JJ Anisiobi put to the ex-PM.

“What a load of b*******,” Mrs Truss replied. “This country has not been doing well for 30 years – that’s how long this has been going on. We have not had industry grow; we’ve had people leaving this country because they can’t make money here […] People’s incomes haven’t really risen if you take account of inflation for over a decade.

“This stuff from Labour is just desperate. It’s desperate because they basically realise that their policies don’t work. That their whole critique of the Tory Government was wrong.”

“Most of the problems go right back to the Blair era,” the former PM added. “They go back to making the Bank of England unaccountable. They go back to all the regulations that Blair put on business. They go back to all the public spending that Gordon Brown did. The big failing of the Tories was to not deal with that.

“Rachel Reeves is in a massive hole of her own making and she’s just casting around for people and things to blame. And I think the public realise this. This is why she is the most unpopular chancellor on record.”

She stated that her mini-budget in 2022 was a “totally different situation” as it was never implemented, claiming that “the Bank of England effectively sabotaged it” by announcing the sale of £40 billion worth of government gilt. “They pointed the finger at me,” she added.

“It’s ludicrous to blame the mini budget, which wasn’t implemented, for where we are now.”