Who is Liz Truss, the favorite in the race for Prime Minister in the UK?

The polls give her a clear winner in the elections to be held within the Conservative Party: Liz Truss, 47, who currently holds the posts of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women and Equality, is the favorite to be elected not only at the head of the partybut also to take up the post of Prime Minister, following the resignation of Boris Johnson in early July.

The 160,000 members of the Conservative Party must therefore vote by post during the month of August and have until 2 September to do so. The result will be known on September 5th. Liz Truss managed to overtake Rishi Sunak, her main opponent and former finance minister, who leads with 58% of her support in her favor against 26%.

If elected, she would later become the third woman to lead the country and to settle at 10 Downing Street, three years after Theresa May and more than thirty years after the indestructible Margaret Thatcher. The comparisons with the Iron Lady are going well, to the point that Liz Truss has even been accused of multiplying the sartorial nods to the politician, especially during a debate in July, she opted for a white shirt with large bows, a disturbing resemblance to the one that Margaret Thatcher wore in 1979 during a broadcast.

A comparison that she herself denounces “frustrating “, Noting rightly that none of his predecessors had to suffer from this little game.

So who are you?

Liz Truss, a feminist from “Destiny’s Child”.

Liz Truss is a candidate who “plays the card of the common person who understands people’s concerns well”according to Sir John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, interviewed by France 24. Planned to increase the level of purchasing power, Liz Truss has put at the center of her program promise to lower taxes.

Refinery29 wanted to see if Liz Truss’s arrival at the helm of the UK was a good thing for women. Her business agenda is already struggling to convince Mary-Ann Stephenson, director of the Women’s Budget Group, an NGO that promotes a gendered approach to economics: “Most of the most disadvantaged people, who cannot afford to feed their children, will not really benefit from the tax cuts. Those who will benefit most are those who are in a good situation and who already pay the most taxes. “

Liz Truss describes herself as a “feminist à la Destiny’s Child”, as he said at a BBC Politics event in 2019, for whom “Women should be independent. “.

“I believe that they should be independent, that they should be encouraged to break down barriers, that they should be helped to achieve their goals, while the Labor Party prefers to portray women as victims, who receive special and special treatment.”

A reference to Gang of girls Beyoncé to try to pocket feminists? She was not not even the first time that Liz Truss was quoting the song Independent womena gimmick that shows this above all the aspiring Prime Minister does not seem to want to address precisely all women, but especially those who have entrepreneurial ambitions.

Liz Truss, the best choice to guarantee the right to abortion?

As Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women and Equal Opportunities, Liz Truss could be expected on the subject of the right to abortion, following the dismissal of Roe vs. Wade in the United States. Problem, she stayed particularly discreetdespite appeals from the British Pregnancy and Advisory Service to condemn the Supreme Court decision.

Reluctant to address this issue is Liz Truss, who has also abstained several times as an MP on measures to improve access to abortion? However, in 2019 you supported the decriminalization of abortion in Northern Ireland.

Moreover, it is also widely criticized, even in its own political field for a considerable retreat on a UK commitment to protect sexual and reproductive rights. In a text signed by several countries, the declaration of commitment “to abrogate all practices that are harmful or restrictive of the rights of women and girls to sexual and reproductive health and autonomy and physical integrity” it has been removed.

“The reasons that led to the removal of the sexual and reproductive health sections are unclear, especially at such an advanced stage and apparently without consultation or discussion.” Tory MP Caroline Nokes, who wrote to Liz Truss, worried for an explanation of this turnaround.

This parliamentarian is also worried seeing Liz Truss confide in Fiona Bruce, another parliamentarian known for having taken anti-abortion positions, to represent her at the ForB Forum, an event dedicated to the protection of religious freedoms, where various personalities committed against the rights of women and LGBTI + people were present.

Finally, Liz Truss stood out for her opposition to the reforms of the Gender Recognition Act, implemented in 2004, which aimed to facilitate the change of marital status of trans people. A problem that is not “priority” in his eyes.

In 2021, he said it wouldn’t be fair if trans people could identify themselves however they want “Without checks and balances in the system”.

Is a woman in power necessarily a guarantee of a feminist policy? We know all too well, The answer is obviously no. And Liz Truss’s possible coming to power may well prove it once again.

Photo credit: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons