But she still reckons not ousting Boris Johnson — a Tory move that thrust Truss into her 49 day-stint in office in the first place — would’ve given the Conservatives their “best chance” of victory.
‘Trump might win’
Truss’s intervention comes as the Conservatives, fresh from defeat, try to pick a new leader. The conference in Birmingham will offer each of the contenders – Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat — the chance to set out their stall before members make their pick from a final two.
The ex-prime minister said she doesn’t “think” she’ll be backing a candidate, arguing none of them have acknowledged “how bad things are in the country as a whole and, frankly for the Conservative Party.”
If Argentina’s chief chainsaw-wielding libertarian President Javier Milei was a candidate, Truss said she would back him “like a shot.”
Asked if Britain is on the road to socialism, Truss hit back: “We are already a socialist country.” By her measure, state spending is too high and “huge swathes” of the economy are held back by regulation.
Truss was also asked to offer something hopeful to counteract her rather gloomy assessment of the state of the world.
“Donald Trump might win,” she said. “It would really cheer me up.”