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Incoming UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has an encouraging (albeit mixed) record on issues that matter to Christians. Notably, she is a strong opponent of radical gender theory and cancel culture and a diligent supporter of free speech.

The ABC has described her as “the next Margaret Thatcher”. A former social progressive who once called for the abolition of the monarchy, Liz Truss is now set to become the country’s fifty-sixth Prime Minister after she won the Conservative Party’s leadership contest.

Here is Liz Truss’s record on a number of key issues, including LGBTQ policy, faith and practice, free speech and identity politics, and Israel.

LGBTQ Issues

According to TheyWorkForYou, a political voting record tracker, Truss has never voted against “LGBTQ+ rights”. She voted for a degendered definition of marriage in 2013.

However, she has also faced severe criticism from more radical elements of the LGBTQ lobby.

LGBTQ advocate blog Pink News lamented:

“Truss has repeatedly failed to advance LGBTQ+ rights in any meaningful way since she joined the equalities office in 2019.”

As a part of her role, Truss scrapped Theresa May’s LGBTQ advisory panel, something she has apparently faced criticism over.

Perhaps more significantly, however, she has campaigned for the withdrawal of government departments from the “controversial” Stonewall “diversity champions” LGBTQ program, a program that allegedly provided “unlawful advice on transgender issues”.

Nonetheless, the most notable “failure” on her part to advocate LGBTQ rights has been on transgender issues specifically.

When asked outright whether transgender “women” are actually women, Truss said no. Encouragingly, she also recognised that “under-18s shouldn’t be able to make irreversible decisions about their own future”.

Moreover, Truss has been responsible for excluding transgenderism from planned “conversion therapy” legislation as well as for scrapping proposals for transgender “self-identification” on birth certificates.

Faith & Practice

When asked about her personal faith, Truss said the following:

“I share the values of the Christian faith and the Church of England, but I’m not a regular practising religious person.”

Sadly, however, some of Truss’s actions evidence the fact that her faith exists only at a “values” or cultural level, rather than at a heart level.

In 2004 and 2005, she was involved in an extramarital affair with a married man for eighteen months. Despite this, her marriage with Hugh O’Leary survived, and, according to Truss, became stronger.

Free Speech & Cancel Culture

Truss has strong opinions on cancel culture, identity politics and so-called “woke”-ism. She has urged conservatives to “reject the zero-sum game of identity politics, we reject the illiberalism of cancel culture, and we reject the soft bigotry of low expectations that holds so many people back”.

She told the Telegraph that she “fundamentally” disagrees with identity politics:

“I don’t agree with the idea that you should have different policies for women or men. What I think is you should make sure your policies are accessible to everybody, so you should be, in the criminal justice system, making sure women are being treated fairly, gay people are being treated fairly, black people are being treated fairly.

If you have a separate women’s ministry, you’re looking at people through the lens of being women. The thing I care about … is your ideas, your talent, your work ethic. I don’t care whether you’re a woman or a man, and that’s the approach I take.”

Reflecting on the backlash against Labor MP Rosie Duffield, who was accused of “transphobia” for stating that women have cervixes, Truss said the following:

“She is right that women have cervixes, but more than that, she’s also right to be able to express her view, and I’m a huge believer in free speech. And I think when we try and sort of brush things under the carpet and can’t have an honest, honest and sensible debate, I think that’s a huge problem for British politics.”

Truss has been a leader in something of a counter-offensive against woke politics within the Tory leadership.

Israel & Palestine

Beyond her positions on identity politics and free speech, Truss also stands in solidarity with Israel. She has committed to reopening the possibility of moving the British Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

As Foreign Secretary she made the following statements:

 “I understand the importance and sensitivity of the location of the British Embassy in Israel. I’ve had many conversations with my good friend Prime Minister Yair Lapid on this topic. Acknowledging that, I will review a move to ensure we are operating on the strongest footing within Israel.”

She supports Israel’s right to defend itself, particularly highlighting threats from terrorist groups and the state of Iran.

“The UK stands by Israel and its right to defend itself. We condemn terrorist groups firing at civilians and violence which has resulted in casualties on both sides. We call for a swift end to the violence.”

As Foreign Secretary, she was also responsible for a new deal with Israel that covered “trade, defense and tech”, making Israel a “tier one” partner with the United Kingdom.

Despite a somewhat mixed record on certain issues, Liz Truss certainly seems likely to stand strong on issues around free speech, cancel culture, identity politics and radical gender theory. Continue to keep her in your prayers.

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons