Liz Truss has detailed her short tenure in Downing Street including her meeting with the late Queen in her new memoir.
In the first excerpt of her book, titled Ten Years to Save the West, the former prime minister said that she asked, “why me, why now?” when Queen Elizabeth II died just two days into her premiership.
Of her historic meeting at Balmoral in Scotland in September 2022Truss says the 96-year-old the Queen “seemed to have grown frailer” since she had last been in the public eye.
“We spent around 20 minutes discussing politics. She was completely attuned to everything that was happening, as well as being typically sharp and witty,” she writes in Mail+.
Ms Truss, whose tenure in Downing Street lasted just 49 days after her disastrous mini-budget unleashed economic chaos, also revealed the late Queen told her to “pace yourself”.
“Maybe I should have listened,” the former PM said.
But the MP for South West Norfolk defended her approach in her memoir, suggesting the “pro-Remain” Treasury, Bank of England and Office for Budget Responsibility were “barriers to our plans”.
Liz Truss blames Boris Johnson’s dog for fleas in No 10
The bombshell revelations include that she spent several of her six weeks as prime minister “itching” because Downing Street was “infested” with the pests.
“The place was infested with fleas,” she wrote. “Some claimed that this was down to Boris and Carrie’s dog Dilyn, but there was no conclusive evidence. In any case, the entire place had to be sprayed with flea killer. I spent several weeks itching.”
Liz Truss defends approach to tenure
Liz Truss served in office for just 49 days, making her Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister.
Many attribute her downfall to the government’s radical tax-cutting policy agenda that tanked the pound.
But the MP for South West Norfolk defended her approach in her memoir, suggesting the “pro-Remain” Treasury, Bank of England and Office for Budget Responsibility were “barriers to our plans”.
She said she had been considering whether to “appoint new senior leaders in the Bank of England and Treasury” but admitted this would have “amounted to a declaration of war on the economic establishment”.
“It would also have taken time we didn’t have,” she said.
In her new memoir, Liz Truss said that the “machine kicked into action” when word reached Number 10 that the Queen would not able to join a planned meeting via videolink, as planned.
“My black mourning dress was fetched from my house in Greenwich, south London.
“Frantic phone calls took place with Buckingham Palace. I started to think about what on earth I was going to say if the unthinkable happened.
“On Thursday, we received the solemn news that the Queen had died peacefully at Balmoral. To be told this on only my second full day as Prime Minister felt utterly unreal. In a state of shock, I found myself thinking: ‘Why me, why now?’”
Full extract of Truss’ meeting with the Queen
In an extract published on Mail+ of her memoir Ten Years to Save the West, Ms Truss said: “That Tuesday, September 6 2022, she was standing up as she greeted me in her drawing room. I was told she’d made a special effort to do so but she gave no hint of discomfort throughout our discussion.
“This was only my second one-on-one audience with her. On the previous occasion, after I’d been removed from a different job in the Government, she’d remarked that being a woman in politics was tough.
“For about 20 minutes, we discussed politics — and it was clear she was completely attuned to everything that was happening, as well as being typically sharp and witty. There simply wasn’t any sense that the end would come as quickly as it did.”
Liz Truss details meeting with Queen
In the first excerpt of her book, titled Ten Years to Save the West, the former prime minister said that she asked, “why me, why now?” when Queen Elizabeth II died just two days into her premiership.
Of her historic meeting at Balmoral in Scotland in September 2022Truss says the 96-year-old the Queen “seemed to have grown frailer” since she had last been in the public eye.
“We spent around 20 minutes discussing politics. She was completely attuned to everything that was happening, as well as being typically sharp and witty,” she writes in Mail+.
Ms Truss, whose tenure in Downing Street lasted just 49 days after her disastrous mini-budget unleashed economic chaos, also revealed the late Queen told her to “pace yourself”.
“Maybe I should have listened,” the former PM said.
