Elisabeth “Liz” Truss (*1975) is the new Secretary of Justice, taking over from Michael Gove (*1967), who has been ousted by the new Prime Minister Theresa May. Michael Gove was together with the equally ousted Chancellor of the Exchequer Michael Osborne a close ally of David Cameron. Michael Gove and Theresa May clashed in cabinet, notably over Islamist radicalism.
Liz Truss has been a Member of Parliament since the 2010 UK general election. She represents South West Norfolk. In July 2015, David Cameron made her Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Liz Truss comes from a left-leaning family. Her father is a mathematics professor at the University of Leeds, her mother a nurse, teacher and member of the CND, the campaign for unilateral nuclear disarmament.
Liz Truss studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Merton College in Oxford. She was President of Oxford University Liberal Democrats, but joined the Conservative Party in 1996.
After graduation in 1996, she worked in the private sector, notably for Shell as a commercial manager and for Cable & Wireless as economic director. In 2008, she became deputy director of the Reform think tank, which aims at improving the public sector and at reducing public spending.
In 2006, Liz Truss was elected councillor in the London Borough of Greenwich, standing down in 2010. As mentioned above, she was elected to Parliament on may 6, 2010.
In September 2012, she was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Education. In July 2014, she was promoted to the job of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, becoming the youngest female cabinet minister in British history.
Liz Truss campaigned for the UK to stay in the EU.
Official portrait of Elizabeth Truss. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, free to share.
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