The next Prime Minister of the UK could be a Buddie.
Officially launching her Conservative Party leadership bid in front of television cameras today, Liz Truss MP announced to the world that her upbringing in Paisley, where she was a pupil at West Primary School, shaped her into the person she is today.
Truss is vying for the top job and currently bookies have her in the top three most likely next PM, behind Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.
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Speaking this morning, the Conservative Foreign Secretary, sought to highlight her background in order to suggest that she had faced adversity in her life because she came from Renfrewshire.
The MP for South West Norfolk said: "I got to where I am today through hard work and aspiration.
"I did not come from a traditional Conservative background, I grew up in Paisley, and I went to a comprehensive school in Leeds."
"Many of the children I was at school with were let down by low expectations, poor educational standards and a lack of opportunity. Too much talent went to waste. I didn't believe, and I don't believe that it has to be that way and that's why I went into politics."
Writing in the Scotsman in 2018, Truss expanded on her time in the Paisley education system and said that she once played the role of Margaret Thatcher in West Primary's recreation of the 1983 general election.
Truss wrote: "I jumped at the chance, and gave a heartfelt speech at the hustings, but ended up with zero votes. I didn't even vote for myself, even at that age, we knew it was simply unpopular to be a Tory in the West of Scotland."
The politician has shaken off that self-deprecation and in true Thatcher-style has spoken enthusiastically of free trade, low taxes, and a small state.
She's also been known for her Instagram output, having previously been photographed in a tank and, on another occasion, wearing a fur hat, evoking famous images of Thatcher during her time in power, when she was dubbed the "Iron Lady".
Her policy offering today centred on a reversal of April's National Insurance hike, plans to reverse next year's scheduled rise in corporation tax and said she would set up "low tax zones" to help attract business.
She also re-committed to the levelling up project begun under Boris Johnson's premiership, saying she would reduce regional inequalities "in a Conservative way".
Truss is bidding to be selected in the final two in the leadership campaign. Conservative MPs will continue to vote for their preferred leader over the coming days. Each round of voting will see the candidate with the lowest number of votes knocked out, until there are two remaining, at which point Conservative Party members and MPs will both vote for who they want to lead the party.
Still in the leadership race are:
- Liz Truss
- Rishi Sunak
- Penny Mordaunt
- Kemi Badenoch
- Tom Tugenhadt
- Suella Braverman
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