From abandoning her opposition to the monarchy, joining the Lib Dems and supporting Brexit, nothing was sacred in her determination to climb the greasy pole. Ms Truss’ supporters have made much of her “initial” loyalty to the prime minister in the Conservative leadership campaign, comparing it to what they call a betrayal of Rishi Sunak by resigning as chancellor. But according to a senior Tory MP who knows Mrs Truss well, her decision to back Boris Johnson to succeed Theresa May in 2019 was not about authority. Ms Truss said she “didn’t care” if Mr Johnson – or anyone else – won, the MP told The Independent she just wanted to avoid being on the “wrong side” again after being hurt by the opposition of Brexit in the EU. referendum. The MP, speaking on condition of anonymity and who knows Mrs Truss well, recalled a “detailed conversation” with her when Mrs May announced her resignation as prime minister in May 2019. The two met to discuss the various contenders and, according to the MP, Ms Truss set out her thinking. The MP said: “Liz said: “I was on the wrong side of Brexit. I’m not going to be on the wrong side of the leadership contest. I don’t care who wins, but I’ll be on the winning side.” The MP added: “I remember the conversation very well. She was so adamant about it that she pushed me in the chest for more emphasis.” At the time, Ms Truss was considering launching her own leadership bid but pulled out, reportedly because she believed her previous support for Remain meant she was doomed to defeat. A week after she quit the contest she pledged her support to Mr Johnson, enthusiastically declaring: “There is only one person for this job and that is why I am supporting Boris. We share a deep optimism about the power of individual creativity and entrepreneurship to achieve progress and prosperity.” He was a proven winner and had “raw”, he added. When she won, she was duly rewarded with the cabinet position of international trade minister and was later promoted to foreign minister. Mr Sunak tried, to no avail, to use Ms Truss’s political somersaults to gain an advantage over her in the current leadership contest. In their first televised debate, he implored her: “You’ve been a Lib Dem and a Remainer: what do you regret most?” Mrs Truss spoke last week of how she regretted not backing Brexit in 2016, but also said she saw nothing wrong with changing her mind. A spokesman for Mrs Truss told the Independent that the claim she had said she “didn’t care” who succeeded Mrs May was nonsense. The spokesperson said: “Liz had lunch with Boris in 2014 and agreed then and there that she would support him if he ever went through with it. He backed him for the leadership in 2016 and was his first cabinet supporter in 2019 as well.”
