Liz Truss is desperately trying to claw her way back into British politics by taking a page straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook, according to insiders. The former Prime Minister—who famously lasted just 49 days in office before being outlived by Daily Star’s viral lettuce—now plans to launch a “free speech media network” this summer in an attempt to revive her public image.
Her latest reinvention comes after she stormed off stage at a recent event, launching into a rant about “free speech”. She’s now teaming up with “American allies”, hoping a series of anti-woke YouTube rants will win back support and convince Brits she deserves another shot at leadership.
But many of her former allies aren’t buying it. Ex-advisors say she should be ashamed of the economic chaos she caused during her disastrous mini-budget, which sent mortgage rates soaring and forced the Bank of England to step in with a £65bn emergency plan.
One former ally put it bluntly: “She’s done anything she can to try and carve out a media career. A lot of her UK friends are not really with her any more.” Even her former deputy PM, Baroness Thérèse Coffey, is keeping her distance, admitting: “I am still friends with Liz but we don’t talk about our political paths.”
Instead of trying to win back her UK supporters, Truss is throwing herself at the American right wing. Insiders claim she’s “desperate” to cosy up to Washington, hoping to get in with key Republican figures.
Speaking to Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon, she promised: “You will be uncensored and uncancellable on our network.” She even declared that Britain is ripe for a “Trump-style revolution”, positioning herself as the face of a new anti-establishment movement.
At last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the US, Truss slammed the UK as a “failed state” and “deeply rotten”, vowing to take on what she calls the “Britain Bashing Corporation”—better known as the BBC.
While many in Westminster see her latest stunt as embarrassing, not everyone is laughing. Former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has backed her efforts, arguing that “a lot of her ideas are the things that Donald Trump is putting into effect in the US.”
He added: “She is able to bring people together, she’s interested in ideas and still has a significant contribution to make.” Whether Truss can actually pull off a comeback is another question. For now, she seems more interested in building her profile across the Atlantic than fixing the damage she left behind in the UK.
