Liz Truss has practically no track record, her stay at 10 Downing Street was too short for that, but she has experienced a lot in her short term as British Prime Minister: the death of Queen Elizabeth II, an economic crisis, not least a head – head-to-head with a head of lettuce (which the head of lettuce won).
Now, officially after 50 days in office, the outgoing head of government faces another challenge: Truss has to slide from the front row to the back seats in politics.
“I will remain prime minister until a successor is elected,” said the 49-year-old in her resignation speech on Thursday. This has now been found, the new British Prime Minister is called Rishi Sunak (and faces enormous challenges).
The modalities of the change of power had already been spelled out in advance: Truss held one last cabinet meeting, addressed the British people one last time, was then replaced by King Charles III. dismissed from office in that order. But what follows after the protocol?
Truss is reportedly returning to the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament, a role she hasn’t held since 2012. After all, she can take the company car, as the “Guardian” notes: As a former prime minister, she is entitled to a driver and security staff on a permanent basis, which she has over former cabinet members.
But with her job, Truss also loses two homes that are reserved for the office holder: the official residence above 10 Downing Street, the seat of government, and Chequers, the official country residence of the British prime ministers. However, that leaves her with a modest single-family home in Tretford, Norfolk and a house in Greenwich in south-east London, as reported by the “Evening Standard”.
Truss should also be unconcerned financially. Alone: Despite her short term in office, as a former prime minister she is entitled to an annual allowance of £115,000 (around €132,000), which has recently led to sharp protests from politics and society.
But should she renounce this claim, as Labor leader Keir Starmer has demanded, she could still open up lucrative sources of income away from daily political events.
While it’s unclear where Truss might end up — she may not yet know herself — she might consider becoming a speaker. It would definitely be lucrative: Former Prime Minister Theresa May is said to have earned more than one million pounds with a total of eight lectures in front of banks and US universities, as the “Times” reported at the time.
As a book author, Truss, who, like May, is not considered very gifted in rhetoric, could make an even better cut. “Most former prime ministers write their memoirs,” said Giles Edwards, who is a recognized expert on retirement careers after his book The Ex Men. “A lot of people find that helpful — not just because it makes them a lot of money, but because it helps them reflect on their life, what they’ve done, and sometimes what they want to take from this life into the next phase.”
No matter what motives Truss’ predecessors may have had – financially it has undoubtedly paid off: Margaret Thatcher collected 3.5 million pounds (around 4 million euros) for her memoirs, David Cameron 1.5 million pounds (around 1.7 million euros) and Tony Blair even 5 million pounds (around 5.7 million euros), as the newspaper reports.
And since Truss’s tenure was dramatic rather than silent, her story between covers could well bring in money—or so believes Farzana Baduel, managing director of PR agency Cursor PR.
“The public is interested in political leaders who have lived in interesting times,” said Baduel to “i”. “She witnessed the Queen’s death and state funeral, the pound’s plunge to an all-time low against the US dollar, rampant inflation, a cost of living crisis, rising fuel prices and the undermining of the stability of Britain’s pension funds.”
Whoever wants to read (and relive) this inglorious chapter of British politics is on a different page. A Tory Conservative backbencher, who will be Truss’ next-seat neighbor, sneered at the paper that it will likely be a “footnote in history” — too much to write footnotes of your own.
Quellen: “The Guardian”, “I”, BBC, “Evening Standard”, “SkyNews”, “Times”
