Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was seen as a frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson long before he resigned.
But now that the race to succeed him is finally under way, she has been accused of running a flat campaign and is trailing third behind Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt after two rounds of MPs’ voting.
An MP for South West Norfolk since 2010, Ms Truss began climbing up the ministerial ladder soon after entering parliament, holding various cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May and Mr Johnson.
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But her stock really began to rise when she was given the international trade brief in 2019, which saw her secure post-Brexit trade deals with Japan and Australia.
With a reputation as someone who can “get things done”, she was promoted to become the second female foreign secretary in history in September last year.
Her key achievements in this role include securing the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from detention in Iran, and introducing a slew of tough sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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‘The new Iron Lady’
The 46-year-old has been dubbed by some fans as the ‘new Iron Lady’ and even appeared to emulate Margaret Thatcher’s style during the first leadership debate.
She has long cited Thatcher as an inspiration and is known for her libertarian views on economics and trade.
Born in Oxford in 1975 to left-wing parents, she went through state school education – first in Paisley then in Leeds.
At 18, she studied politics, philosophy and economics at Merton College, Oxford, where she was president of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats.
She switched sides and joined the Conservative Party in 1996, when she became a commercial manager at Shell before becoming a qualified management accountant.
Ms Truss was elected as a councillor in Greenwich in 2006 and then as MP for South West Norfolk in 2010 – a seat which she has held ever since.
‘Fairytale economics’
Ms Truss has vowed to bring about the biggest economic change the UK has seen in 30 years in her pitch to become the next prime minister.
She has pledged to reverse the National Insurance rise brought in by fellow leadership contender and former chancellor Rishi Sunak, claiming she never supported the manifesto-breaking policy in cabinet discussions.
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She has also vowed to axe the scheduled corporation tax hike from 19% to 25% and says she will introduce a temporary moratorium on the green energy level to cut £153 from people’s energy bills.
But Mr Sunak has ridiculed her plans as “fairytale economics” and even branded her a socialist in a fiery clash during last night’s ITV debate.
Ms Truss, who was criticised for a poor performance in the first debate, went on the offensive in the second encounter, accusing Mr Sunak of plunging Britain towards recession by raising taxes.
But he accused her of “something for nothing economics” which even Jeremy Corbyn would have baulked at.
In an apparent nod to criticism that she can often appear robotic, Ms Truss acknowledged she may not be “the slickest presenter on this stage”.
But she said: “I think my colleagues understand in parliament when I work with them that when I say I’ll do something, I do it.”
Following the debate, Mr Sunak overtook Penny Mordaunt as the bookies’ favourite to be the next Conservative Party leader, with Ms Truss coming in third.
Ms Truss also trails behind Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt in polling among Conservative members.
‘Kiss of death’
While she has gained support from Johnson loyalists like Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries, the “continuity candidate” is grappling with two key issues in the leadership race.
Some believe she could be the “kiss of death” for a parliamentary party that wants a clean break from the past – as Sky News’ Beth Rigby put to her.
Ms Truss has argued she didn’t resign over Mr Johnson’s leadership while dozens of other colleagues did because she is a “loyal person” and has indicated she will not allow him to be in her cabinet if she does win the leadership race.
She has argued she will bring change through her economic policy, telling the Sunday Telegraph: “What I want to achieve is the biggest change in our economic policy for 30 years. That’s the scale of the challenge we face.”
But she is also facing the headache of rival Kemi Badenoch potentially peeling off votes on the right of the party, with whom Ms Truss is trying to shore up support.
‘Guardian of Brexit’
Ms Truss will be hoping to get a chunk of Suella Braverman’s support in the third round of voting tonight.
The former attorney general was eliminated from the race on Thursday and has since given Ms Truss her backing, saying she will be “the strong guardian of Brexit promises”.
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Although she voted Remain in the 2016 EU Referendum, Ms Truss now says she supports Brexit and has pledged to “take the vital steps necessary” to protect the Good Friday Agreement, “solve the serious problems the protocol is causing” and has vowed to “deliver on the vast opportunities” that Brexit presents.
Ms Truss has also pledged to increase defence spending by 3% by the end of the decade, has pledged to end “Stalinist” housing targets and said she would lift a fracking ban.
There will be successive rounds of voting by MPs this week until only two contenders remain.
But a Sky News debate scheduled for tomorrow night had to be cancelled at the last hour after Ms Truss and Mr Sunak pulled out.
Conservative MPs are said to be concerned about the damage the debates are doing to the image of the party, exposing disagreements and splits.
