The Daily Telegraph

Truss looks across the pond to unite with conservati­ves of a similar stripe

Former PM is a ‘good fit’ with Reaganites but will struggle to compete with Johnson on lecture circuit

- By Ben Riley-smith POLITICAL EDITOR

The embodiment of Margaret Thatcher’s legacy in America is an imposing building a few minutes’ walk from Congress at the heart of Washington DC.

The Heritage Foundation, housed within, does not just carry the flame of Reaganomic­s but also defends the policies and ideology of the Iron Lady.

It was here, last month, that another former female Tory prime minister stopped by as she began to map out the path to a fulfilling life after Downing Street.

Liz Truss’s visit to the think tank has led to ongoing discussion­s about future work together.

According to friends and former colleagues who have spoken to The Daily Telegraph, Ms Truss is likely to make many more trips across the pond this year, tapping into old congressio­nal contacts and think tank allies.

Her tax-slashing economic agenda that imploded in the autumn still resonates in Right-wing US circles meaning her ideology may be more readily accepted stateside.

“In many ways, Liz’s natural political constituen­cy is Reaganite centre-right conservati­ves in the

US – proper free market types,” one figure by Ms Truss’s side in Downing Street said. “She feels great affinity to conservati­ve economic thinking in the States – which is more classicall­y conservati­ve than here in Britain, given we’ve moved so far away from true blue economics here. Her arguments have more willing ears and minds in the US.”

The connection with the foundation should be no surprise. She spoke about the need for a US-UK trade deal when she was chosen to give a speech at the institute in April 2019 when she was internatio­nal trade secretary.

“It’s fantastic to be here at the Heritage Foundation today, an organisati­on which gave so much impetus to the Reagan administra­tion in the 1980s, unleashing enterprise and opportunit­y, and is now very much at the forefront of Republican thinking as you move into the next decade,” Ms Truss told the room.

The think tank in turn has rushed to the defence of Ms Truss, ousted after six weeks when interest rates surged following her “mini” Budget. “Liz Truss Lesson for Conservati­ves: Never Surrender to Left”, read one headline on the think tank’s website, insisting she should have stuck to her guns.

A friend of Ms Truss said of her drop-by last month: “Heritage are her political soulmates. It was a catch-up, ruminating on the future.”

But a ministeria­l past littered with link-ups in America offers clues for other possible ventures.

One could be a gathering of the great, the good and the moneyed of conservati­ve America held every year on Sea Island off the coast of Georgia.

The guest list at the American Enterprise Institute’s World Forum is always closely guarded.

But Ms Truss reportedly attended in 2019 and apparently pushed hard to go there again as foreign secretary in 2021, before the idea was quietly dropped. Interest in that world is already confirmed since Ms Truss stepped back.

During last month’s trip to Washington she attended the Internatio­nal Democrat Union forum.

Two politician­s considerin­g a punt at next year’s Republican presidenti­al nomination, Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s former vice-president, and Ted Cruz, a Texas senator, were listed as speakers.

Ms Truss’s interest in the US was seen in private and public during her ministeria­l career. In September 2021, having just been handed the Foreign Office by Boris Johnson, it is understood Ms Truss pushed to be included in a small UK delegation visiting President Joe Biden at the White House. Sources said she was gleeful when she secured her slot and posted pictures of the meeting on Instagram.

Indeed, even the briefest of glances at Ms Truss’s Instagram account shows

‘She’s always been a freemarket­eer, optimistic, go-getter type that Americans love. It is just very Liz’

more than a dozen Us-themed snaps. Ms Truss, dark glasses on, marching past New York skyscraper­s; Ms Truss enjoying a whisky after the US tariff is lifted; Ms Truss smiling near the Washington Monument.

Kirsty Buchanan, who served as her special adviser in the Justice Department, said Ms Truss’s political identity and ideology is a natural fit for the US.

“I always thought when she left office that the next time she would pop up would be in the US in a pro-growth think tank. So I’m not remotely surprised she’s thinking of that,”she said.

“She’s always been a very pro-transatlan­tic, free-marketeer, optimistic, go-getter type that Americans love. It is just very Liz.”

But that poses a challenge. Boris Johnson. Ms Truss’s predecesso­r also has his eye on America and is making £250,000 a time for attending US business conference­s – a price her friends privately admit she could not demand.

Lord Darroch hosted both Mr Truss and Mr Johnson in Washington when he was the British ambassador and suspects there may be more interest in the latter among Americans.

“It would be entirely understand­able for Liz Truss to turn to America for rehabilita­tion,” he said.

“There is a strong and vocal constituen­cy there for low tax and small government policies, epitomised by the Tea Party faction in the Republican Party.

“But she would need to be realistic about her profile over there.

“Boris Johnson is the current poster boy for British Conservati­ves in America, and to the extent that Ms Truss is known at all, it is for the shortest premiershi­p in British history and the economic chaos on her watch.”

 ?? ?? Friends and former colleagues of Liz Truss have suggested her policies would go down better in the United States than they did at home
Friends and former colleagues of Liz Truss have suggested her policies would go down better in the United States than they did at home

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom