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Liz Truss has not ruled out running again to be leader of the Conservative Party despite being forced to quit days into her premiership.
The former prime minister said she has “unfinished business” in politics and left the door open to a future bid to be Tory leader.
She also said she wanted to see Donald Trump re-elected as US president and argued against those who suggest it would compromise western security.
Asked if she would want to return to frontline politics if the Tories lose the election, Ms Truss said: “I definitely have unfinished business. Definitely. And I think the Conservative Party has unfinished business.”
Speaking to LBC, she added: “I think, if we’re honest with ourselves, we haven’t done enough to reverse the Blair legacy.”
The MP for South West Norfolk became the shortest serving prime minister in British history after she was forced to step down 49 days into her premiership.
Her time in Downing Street ended in turmoil after hermini-Budget introduced unfunded tax cuts, which led to market turmoil and soaring interest rates.
She is now promoting her book, Ten Years To Save The West, which details her short stint in No 10 and spells out her bvision for the future of UK politics.
Ms Truss said she had not written her book “to run a leadership campaign” but to start a conversation around her political ideas.
But pressed if she would rule out standing for the Tory leadership in future, she said: “Well, it’s never wise to rule anything out in politics, is it?”
She expressed support for Mr Trump’s bid to be re-elected president and argued the West has been less safe since the election of Joe Biden.
She said Mr Trump, who has been against continuing funding for Ukraine in the war against Russia, should be judged on “his actions rather than all the rhetoric”.
Speaking to The Spectator, former foreign secretary Ms Truss said: “I certainly feel having served as secretary of state under a Trump administration and under a Biden administration, I think the world was safer when Trump was in charge. And I also think that is true with respect to Iran.
“I think the Biden administrations have shown weakness on Iran, and that has led to the situation we’ve seen in the Middle East.”
Ms Truss also told The Sun she wanted Reform UK founder and former Ukip politician Nigel Farage to join the Conservative Party.
Since leaving No 10, she has lashed out at some of the economic institutions she feels were to blame for the outcome of her economic policies. She claimed criticisms of her fiscal policy and links made between it and the UK’s struggling economy were a “smear”.
Speaking to LBC, she said Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey should resign over his response to her mini-Budget and that she wanted to “see the back of” the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – the public body, sponsored by the Treasury, that gives an independent analysis of the UK’s public finances.
Asked if she thought Mr Bailey should still be in post, she said: “No, I don’t. I certainly think there should be a proper investigation into what happened in September 2022, and the actions the Bank of England took.”
Among her criticisms, she pointed to interest rates being “too low for too long”, and said steps to pump money into the economy following the 2008 financial crash and the Covid pandemic had “done a lot of damage”.
Ms Truss also said she wanted to abolish the Supreme Court and the Human Rights Act.
Labour said the prospect of Ms Truss returning as Tory leader would “send shivers down the spine of working people”.
Jonathan Ashworth, a shadow Cabinet Office minister, added: “Homeowners are still reeling after the Conservatives crashed the economy and sent mortgages rocketing by hundreds of pounds every month.
“Rishi Sunak is too weak to stand up to the reckless actions of Liz Truss and it’s working people that pay the price.
“It’s crystal clear that the British public cannot risk five more years of Conservative chaos. A vote for Labour on May 2 [the local elections] is the first step in a chance for change.”
