Liz Truss rejects Margaret Thatcher comparisons: ‘I am my own person’

Liz Truss has denied modelling herself on Margaret Thatcher, saying such comparisons are “frustrating”.

The comparisons have come thick-and-fast in recent years, especially since the elevation of Ms Truss to the high-profile position of Foreign Secretary.

Some have suggested the comparisons have not been unwelcome to Ms Truss, pointing to some of her own eye-catching photo opportunities.

Ms Truss donned military gear and perched in a tank for pictures during a visit to Estonia, echoing an image of former prime minister Mrs Thatcher in a tank in West Germany in 1986.

More recently, an outfit worn at one of the televised leadership debates bore uncanny similarities to the attire of Mrs Thatcher.

But on Thursday, Ms Truss tried to scotch any notion of a conscious attempt to model herself on the decade-defining PM.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I am my own person.

“I’m from a very different background. I grew up in Yorkshire. I went to a comprehensive school. I am somebody who has worked all my life to get things done. And that’s what I want to do in the job.”

Ms Truss went further in an interview with GB News later on Thursday morning, calling any suggestion of a resemblance between the two women “frustrating”.

“It is quite frustrating that female politicians always get compared to Margaret Thatcher, whereas male politicians don’t get compared to Ted Heath,” she said.

“I think we need to equalise the scales,” she joked.