Liz Truss: 7 things to know about the UK's new Prime Minister

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Monday, September 05, 2022

Anti-monarchy past

Queen Elizabeth II arrives with for the opening of the sixth session of the Scottish Parliament on October 02, 2021, in Edinburgh, Scotland. | Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Truss was a student at Oxford University where she studied politics, philosophy and economics (PPE) and was president of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats, having been raised by left-leaning parents.

At the time, Truss was opposed to the U.K. having a monarchy, explaining at a 1994 conference in Brighton that she and her peers “do not believe people are born to rule.”

She has since gone more rightward in her politics and, following her college years, has considered the royals “essential” to the country, explaining to the BBC that, in her younger years, “I was a professional controversialist and I liked exploring ideas and stirring things up.”

“People may know about me that I have a bit of a dubious past,” she told a group of Tories earlier this year, as reported by The Washington Post.

“We all make mistakes, we all had teenage misadventures, and that was mine. Some people have sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, I was in the Liberal Democrats. I’m sorry.”