Can Truss Gain The Trust of UK Voters?

As widely expected, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss defeated former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to win Britain's Tory Party leadership succeeding Boris Johnson who resigned amid scandal this summer. Tomorrow, Truss will be sworn in as Prime Minister and will take up residence at Number 10 Downing Street.

The question is can Truss gain the trust of UK voters? Truss does have time on her side as an election does not legally need to be held until January 28, 2025. Assuming this comes to pass, the Tories will have been in power for nearly 15 years and Truss is the fourth Prime Minister during this reign. 

Truss has a tall task ahead of her. Aside from the stench of scandal left by Johnson for his pandemic parties, Truss will face high energy prices compounded by double digit inflation and a wave of strikes. This could make the Winter of Discontent faced by the Labour government of James Callaghan in 1978 and 1979 look like a Sunday school picnic by comparison. 

When British voters do get the chance, Truss will not have the luxury of facing the inept Jeremy Corbyn. She will have to face the far more formidable Keir Starmer. Granted, Starmer's Labour Party might need help from the Liberal Democrats to form a governing coalition, but this was the case with David Cameron when the Tories returned to power in 2010. 

The only other thing which could benefit Truss other than time is if she exceeds expectations. Of course, Johnson set the bar so low that Truss might be able to overcome it. However, one should not underestimate the Tories' tendency towards cruelty and scandal. When it comes to Liz Truss, the jury is out on her for the forseeable future.