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Liz Truss is known as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister. Her tenure in September 2022, after Boris Johnson was forced to resign, lasted just seven weeks after a disastrous mini budget unleashed economic chaos.
The Daily Star newspaper had then bought an iceberg lettuce and set up a live webcam to see who would last longer, Ms Truss as Prime Minister or the lettuce, the lettuce won.
She has now written a memoir, Ten Years to Save the West, which defends her policies. She also talks about her last meeting with the Queen, how living in No 10 felt like a prison, and how her husband predicted it would all end in tears.
Tweeting her first extracts being published in Mail+, ahead of the book going on sale on Tuesday, Ms Truss said: “Forget all you’ve read about the events of Autumn 2022. In #TenYearstoSavetheWest I reveal what really took place. Read the truth about WHAT and WHO brought down my government.”
Here are some of the most shocking lines from what has been released.
‘Why me, why now?’
Ms Truss said she went into “a state of shock” when told of the Queen’s death in September 2022.
On what was only her second one-on-one audience with the Queen (on Tuesday 6), Ms Truss writes: “For about 20 minutes, we discussed politics – and it was clear she was completely attuned to everything that was happening, as well as being typically sharp and witty. There simply wasn’t any sense that the end would come as quickly as it did.
“On Thursday, we received the solemn news that the Queen had died peacefully at Balmoral. To be told this on only my second full day as Prime Minister felt utterly unreal. In a state of shock, I found myself thinking: ‘Why me, why now?’
“I knew I’d never forget my last meeting with Her Majesty — and especially what she said towards the end of our talk in her drawing room. Being Prime Minister, she warned me, is incredibly ageing. She also gave me two words of advice: ‘Pace yourself.’
“Maybe I should have listened.”
‘Number 10 is like a prison and infested with fleas‘
The former PM revealed how during her first days living in Number 10, she first had to convince Ocado to deliver her groceries to the address, but wasn’t told when the delivery arrived.
She said: “No10 officials had indeed taken delivery of it but didn’t want to disturb the Prime Minister!
“It was an early example of how isolating it is to live ‘above the shop’. Although our tenure was short, it was quite long enough to experience the pros and cons of the arrangement. I’m not sure it would be rated well on Airbnb.”
She added: “Even less welcome, the place was infested with fleas. Some claimed that this was down to Boris and Carrie’s dog Dilyn, but there was no conclusive evidence. In any case, the entire place had to be sprayed with flea killer. I spent several weeks itching.
“The most difficult thing to get used to, however, was just being stuck there. Spontaneous excursions were all but impossible: I was effectively a prisoner.”
‘The £58 billion mini budget’
In the Mail+ extract Ms Truss explains how the mini budget unfolded after being delivered by her long-time ally and then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
She writes: “Friday, September 23 — Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng presents the £58billion mini budget to the Commons. Key measures include: a penny off income tax, reversing planned increases in national insurance and corporation tax, scrapping the cap on bankers’ bonuses, abolishing the 45p rate of tax for high earners, freezing energy bills, relaxing planning regulations and doubling the stamp duty threshold.
“Reaction is swift. Amid concern over how Kwarteng will fund his budget bonanza, the pound falls to a 37-year-low against the dollar, while Government borrowing costs soar.”
She added: “I have heard many people say we should have gone slower, delayed the announcements and ‘rolled the pitch’ better.”
But, she recalls: “Looking back, that afternoon was probably my happiest moment as Prime Minister.
“Little did I know the establishment was about to use every tool at its disposal to fight back.”
Mr Kwarteng was sacked by Ms Truss on October 14.
‘Protein shakes labelled ‘Raab’ in the fridge‘
When Ms Truss became Foreign Secretary in 2021, Mr Johnson agreed that Dominic Raab could continue to use Chevening House in Sevenoaks, Kent, when he was demoted to Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.
Noting how she had to share the grave-and-favour estate, Ms Truss writes: “Raab and I would have access to Chevening on a timeshare basis. It was like an exalted student flat-share. I’d arrive for the weekend and find protein shakes labelled ‘Raab’ in the fridge. It probably wasn’t necessary — I was unlikely to have taken them.”
‘All end in tears’
According to The Guardian, which claims to have seen a copy of the book, Ms Truss’ husband Hugh O’Leary, had predicted “it would all end in tears”.
Looking back at her time in Number 10 she writes: “In short, there are a great many downsides to the job. The relentless pressure. The media abuse and political attacks. The loss of personal freedom and intrusions on family life.
“The only good reason to be in No. 10, and put up with all the downsides, was what I could get done while I was there. Had I been content to put off the big decisions, I might have secured a longer tenancy. But I was impatient. I had work to do.”
