Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss has accused Rishi Sunak’s government of seeking to “appease” left-wing extremists, which, she argues, are gaining influence in British institutions.
Truss, speaking on Tuesday in London at the launch of the new Popular Conservatism, or PopCons, movement, said that many Britons are “secret” Conservatives but are afraid to ‘out’ themselves as such. This subset of people, Truss reasoned, must be galvanized in order to prevent a “damaging divide” between lawmakers and voters who “think the wokery going on is nonsense.”
“I’m afraid we have not taken on the Left enough,” Truss told attendees, including former UKIP and Brexit Party (now Reform UK) leader Nigel Farage and ex-Cabinet member Jacob Rees-Mogg. She added that for two decades the Conservative Party had mistakenly sought to “appease” left-wing ideology.
Among the goals of the PopCons political movement are to put pressure on the Sunak government to adopt more hardline conservative policies ahead of the general election expected to take place this year. These include more robust immigration laws, lower taxes and a commitment to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In her keynote address, Truss claimed that British lawmakers do not want to support these types of policies because they “don’t want to be unpopular.” However, “the irony is that these policies are popular,” she said.
Truss also cited her own personal experience of “never being invited” to London dinner parties, as an example of a conservative ideology being incompatible with expanding societal left-wing influence.
“I believe the fundamental issue is that for years, and years and years… Conservatives have not taken on the left-wing extremists,” Truss said. She added that these groups include “environmentalists” and those who “are in favor of supporting LGBT people or groups of ethnic minorities.”
The former premier of Britain also claimed that “wokeism seems to be on the curriculum in schools,” and hit out at the push to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions – which another speaker, former MP Lee Anderson, said is only supported by “odd weirdos.”
Truss, who is now 48, is the shortest-serving British Prime Minister in history, her reign lasting just 49 days until she resigned on October 25, 2022 amid a floundering agenda and party infighting.
Recent polling by Savanta has shown that she remains deeply unpopular despite leaving office well over a year ago. Around 65% of voters hold an unfavorable view of the former PM, with just 11% holding a positive opinion of her.
Chris Hopkins, research director at the polling firm, remarked of the findings that the PopCons movement “couldn’t find a more unpopular spokesperson if they actively tried.”