Liz Truss made her political debut calling for the end of the monarchy at just 19 years old.
Ambition is no stranger to this fierce female politician, when at the 1994 party conference of the Liberal Democrats, the teenager was speaking as president of the party's Oxford University student movement, quoting former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, she said: "Everybody in Britain should have the chance to be a somebody, but only one family can provide the Head of State."
She retracted her statement when the video clip surfaced in July this year, instead taking a much more conservative political line, for which she is now known for. "I've got the ability to learn from mistakes I've made, things that I've done that are wrong and move on."
On Tuesday Ms Truss will head to Balmoral to meet with the head of the monarchy, the Queen, and officially be sworn in as the 56th prime minister of the United Kingdom.
She will inherit the top job with the country facing a major cost of living crisis, lingering Brexit issues and a climate emergency. On the international front, she will have to navigate the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russian aggression.
She will replace Boris Johnson after defeating former chancellor the exchequer, winning 57% of the vote. Mr Johnson was forced to resign after a raft of resignations from his government, stemming from not but a few series of controversies surrounding the now former PM.
But what do we know of Liz Truss?
Previous self confessed controversialist? Yes.
So why, and when did she become a staunch conservative?
Born Mary Elizabeth Truss in Oxford on July 26, 1975, the next UK leader had a very un-Conservative upbringing.
Her father John was a university maths professor and her mother Priscilla was a nurse, and both held strong liberal ideals.
Both of them were involved in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in the UK and would take their daughter to rallies calling for the Thatcher government to divest of its nuclear weapons, where a young Liz would chant "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! Out, Out, Out!".
While her schooling led to a place at the prestigious Merton College at Oxford University, she has said she felt many of the children at her school were "let down by low expectations, poor educational standards and a lack of opportunity".
"While we were taught about racism and sexism, there was too little time spent making sure everyone could read and write," she said.
It was with the socially progressive Liberal Democrats that she pushed for the abolition of the monarchy, attended a mass trespass protest against an anti-rave bill, and pushed for the legalisation of marijuana.
Labelled ambitious and it wasn't always well received
While in Leeds, other student Liberal Democrats perhaps saw a glimpse into Ms Truss's future aspirations, through her unashamed admiration for former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher — a leader whose removal she had been calling for just a decade earlier.
Kiron Reid, a chairman of the party's youth arm, recalled to The Times Ms Truss espousing her favourable opinion of the Iron Lady during a charity walk to raise money for homelessness.
"She was quite happy to join in an activity like that, raising awareness of a social issue, but would still be happy to say that she admired Margaret Thatcher," he told the newspaper. "It's not the usual view you would have heard among youth and student politics, perhaps."
By 1996 it appeared Ms Truss had become disenchanted with the Liberal Democrats — the UK's third-largest political party — and jumped ship to the Conservatives before her graduation from Oxford.
After attaining her degree in philosophy, politics and economics, Ms Truss scored a graduate role with oil giant Shell, where she also became a qualified chartered accountant.
In 1997 she met her future husband, accountant Hugh O'Leary, at the 1997 Conservative Party conference. The couple married in 2000 and have two daughters together, Liberty and Frances.
Ms Truss had several unsuccessful attempts at running as a Conservative for local council elections in Greenwich in London, as well as contesting a safe Labour seat in England's north in the 2001 general election, where she finished a distant second.
In 2006 she finally completed a successful campaign, elected as a councillor for Eltham South in the Greenwich London Borough.
A sordid affair
Shortly after her election to Greenwich council, her ambitions of becoming a Member of Parliament were dealt a huge blow when the Daily Mail revealed she had a secret affair with Mark Field, a member of the shadow cabinet at the time.
Mr Fields's 12-year marriage ended shortly after the 18-month affair became public, but Ms Truss's husband stood by her, and they remain married.
In 2009 Truss was selected by the local Conservative Association to contest the seat of South West Norfolk in England's east.
The race was nearly derailed when some local members protested after Ms Truss failed to declare the prior affair with Mr Field.
A motion put forward to terminate her as the candidate ultimately failed, and she was elected to the House of Commons in the 2010 general election with a 13,140-vote majority.
Ms Truss was one of then-prime minister David Cameron's "A-list" candidates for the 2010 intake.
She was appointed to a junior minister role in the Education Department in 2012, where she worked alongside Liberal Democrat colleagues who had helped Mr Cameron form a coalition government.
Moving up & infamous words
She moved to Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2014, which saw her deliver a now infamous speech to the Tory party conference talking up new pork markets in China and labelling the fact that Britain had to import two-thirds of its cheese "a disgrace".
In the lead-up to the 2016 Brexit referendum, Ms Truss hitched herself to the Remain camp, but did most of her campaigning on the periphery of the divisive poll.
The year after the UK voted to leave the European Union, she told the BBC she had "changed her mind" on Brexit.
"I voted to remain because I was concerned about the economy, but what we've seen since the Brexit vote is our economy has done well," she said.
Then, after backing Boris Johnson in his leadership run after the toppling of Ms May in 2019, Ms Truss was rewarded with the role of Trade Secretary and appointed president of the Board of Trade.
It was in this role that she set about pushing Mr Johnson's positive vision of a post-Brexit Britain, and helped facilitate a free trade deal with Australia.
In September 2021, Ms Truss was promoted by Mr Johnson again, this time to Foreign Secretary — one of the 'four great offices of the state' — becoming only the second woman to hold the role.
As Foreign Secretary she has been at the forefront of Britain's response to the crisis in Ukraine. The position has also seen her jet-setting across the globe on diplomatic trips over the past year.
Faux Pas
One visit to Australia in January raised eyebrows over the use of a government jet instead of a commercial flight — a choice that cost British taxpayers more than $845,000.
Throughout her career, Ms Truss has drawn many comparisons to Margaret Thatcher — including suggestions that she dresses like her idol. But the new Conservative leader appears determined to put her own stamp on the top office.
"I am my own person," she told the BBC when asked about it earlier in the year.
When the walls started crumbling around Boris Johnson at the start of July, Rishi Sunak abandoned ship and quit as Chancellor of the Exchequer, sparking a wave of government resignations.
Ms Truss instead stood by her boss, and in turn other Johnson supporters swung in behind her during the bitter leadership campaign, including those in the Brexiteer wing of the Conservative Party.
"Liz Truss is the best candidate," Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said during an interview outside Downing Street just after she announced her candidacy.
"She is a proper Eurosceptic who will deliver for the voters and she believes in low taxation."
Former Tory MP-turned-columnist Matthew Parris said it was best to "stick to your first impressions" of the new prime minister. "Liz Truss is a planet-sized mass of overconfidence and ambition teetering upon a pinhead of a political brain," he wrote in The Times.
We can't condone perpetuating this kind of rhetoric about female leadership, Matthew Parris, we are calling you out. We are waiting and watching with careful curiosity to see how Liz Truss takes to the top job.
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