In that respect, her meeting with Gul Co-operation Council foreign ministers on Monday shows her view that closer economic and security ties with the Gulf are key to combating hostile states.
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She also argued that the UK needed to “be on the front foot” because “the battle for economic influence is already in full flow”. In a substantial speech a week ago, she put forward her Brexit credentials, portraying the benefits of Britain as “confident, outward-looking, patriotic and positive”. Ms Truss has already set out her stall as a top leadership contender. So, it might be that Ms Truss can negotiate without that restriction, resolve the Protocol - absorbing some opprobrium - and carry on. With constant missteps over Christmas parties, those denials appear to carry less weight currently. However, that position may well have already been conceded, with a British official saying as much to European press this month only for Downing Street to deny it. Photo: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street Liz Truss visits British troops on deployment to Estonia. What will not endear her to the party's Brexiteers is a retreat on Lord Frost’s rigid position in removing the European Court of Justice as arbiter in trade disputes, something seen as unacceptable to hardliners. That may well see her compromise on the political collision course that Britain is currently set on with Brussels and to a lesser extent Washington. Those vying for the top job will almost certainly have to fight their way past the formidable Ms Truss.Īnd she will not make their lives easy: those close to the foreign secretary point to inner strength combined with a highly developed political radar. To date, she has served in the Cabinet under three challenging prime ministers while many contemporaries have fallen along the way. She voted remain in the Brexit referendum only to later become an advocate for leave.Ĭlearly, she can adroitly tack the political winds. Her parents were Labour inclined, but Ms Truss became president of the Liberal Democrats at university before turning to the Conservatives after graduation. Ms Truss will certainly be bellicose in triggering Article 16 - the option that could lead to a trade war with the EU - and she may also have the stomach for it.īorn to a maths professor father and a teacher mother, Ms Truss was given a sound education that set her on the path to Oxford University. She is, those close to her say, a “very tough negotiator” and has considerable experience from striking deals as international trade secretary, and deals with Australia and Japan bear witness to that. However, the prime minister and colleagues understand that there is a steely resilience about Ms Truss. He is either grooming his successor or giving her enough rope to strangle her political career. Getty Imagesīut that is on the assumption that all goes well - which is probably the calculation Boris Johnson made when adding the Brexit post to her work tray on Sunday. Liz Truss, appointed as the new foreign secretary, leaves 10 Downing Street in September this year. Scrapping with envoys from Brussels while managing Northern Ireland’s vociferous politicians can be tricky.īut if Ms Truss, 46, manages to renegotiate Britain’s trade deal by resolving the Northern Ireland Protocol while keeping Brexiteers and Unionists satisfied, it will be a major achievement, strengthening her already formidable position among the Conservative grass roots to the point that Number Ten could come within tantalising reach. That latest job addition could well be a poisoned chalice, as Lord Frost, who resigned at the weekend, and his predecessors will testify. Months into her new role as the UK's foreign secretary, Liz Truss has secured another major portfolio.įrom her modest profile of international trade secretary, she was promoted after only three months to one of the great offices of state and will now also be the lead Brexit negotiator.