Liz Truss on Reform, Trump and why she would have outdone Rishi Sunak

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss made just one appearance at the Conservative Party conference this year.

But the queue to hear her chat to the Telegraph’s Tim Stanley stretched for some distance.

Members told CityAM they were eager to hear her views. And if you missed it, we’ve rounded up the most eye-catching things she had to say.

1) ‘We are a socialist country’

Truss opened the in-conversation event by stating her belief Britain is “already in socialism”.

She said: “I think we’re already in socialism. We’re already a socialist country. 

“The government is spending 45 per cent of GDP. We have huge swathes of the economy controlled by regulation and bureaucracy, and a government saying, ‘we need more of that. We need more taxes, we need bigger government, we need more regulation…’ 

“I think we are well on the way.”

2) Won’t have a ‘slanging match’ with Theresa May

Responding to her predecessor Theresa May, who asserted that “our reputation for economic competence was shattered” by Truss’ mini-Budget.

And hitting back, the former MP told the audience: “I don’t know what to say about the 2017 election and our policies. I’m not going to engage in a slanging match with Theresa May. 

“But what happened was successive Conservative governments went along with the economic orthodoxy, loose monetary policy, giving control to the Bank of England… they essentially outsourced economic policy.”

3) ‘I lost my seat largely due to Reform’

At the July 4 election, Truss was unseated by Labour’s Terry Jermy – and did not make a concession speech following her loss.

However, she insisted the loss was in fact due to the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform party.

“So I lost my seat largely due to Reform, right?” she said. “Reform took a lot of my vote in South West Norfolk.”

She added: “I don’t think the people of South West Norfolk actually consciously want a Labour MP, people in South West Norfolk want things to change, and they chose two different ways of trying to deliver change and Labour came though the middle.

“They didn’t vote Labour because they were enthusiastic about the Labour Party, they voted Labour because they were fed up that we hadn’t delivered.”

4) ‘Stupid move to undermine Boris’

Answering a question on whether she thought “a Tory Party led by you would have done better than a Tory Party led by Rishi Sunak at the last election”, she said: “Yes I do.”

She added: “When I was in No10, Reform was holding at three per cent – by the time we got to the election I think they got 18 per cent, because we promised change that we didn’t deliver.”

And Truss also stressed that she thought “it was a very tall order to win [the 2024 election]” but insisted: “I think our best chance of winning would have been to have kept Boris.

“I think it was a very stupid move of some of my colleagues to undermine Boris and they still haven’t admitted that.”

5) Cheers for ‘Donald Trump might win’

Asked for something to cheer the conference audience up, Truss said: “Donald Trump might win.”

She continued: “The left have been winning the argument mainly because the right haven’t been making the argument… Trump winning in America would be a sign the tide is turning.

“This would be the first domino, and Trump is anti-establishment.”