Britain's MAGA Moment

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss' hopes for a right-wing overhaul

- by JAMES BICKERTON

POLITICAL TENSIONS Truss said protests related to immigration and the growing popularity of Reform UK are evidence of an uprising and the need for a Trump-style overhaul in the U.K.

WHEN LIZ TRUSS WALKED OUT of 10 Downing Street for the final time on October 25, 2022, ending her 45-day spell as Britain's shortest-serving prime minister, she could have been forgiven for thinking her political career was over.

Truss' reign was defined by two events: the death of Queen Elizabeth II and a tax slashing mini-budget, the latter of which spooked the financial markets and triggered a loss of confidence from her own Conservative Party MPs and the collapse of her administration.

But now Truss is back, with a radical new message for a British right which could be on the cusp of one of its biggest overhauls in centuries.

Britain, Truss told Newsweek, needs to have its own “MAGA moment,” a reference to the Make America Great Again machine which twice powered Donald Trump to the White House.

To say that British politics is currently tense would be an understatement. In July and August 2024 anti-migrant riots took place across the country after the murder of three young girls at a dance class in Southport, Merseyside, and false rumors an immigrant was responsible.

This summer, authorities have desperately tried to keep a lid on protests nationwide outside hotels housing prospective asylum seekers, while on September 13 up to 150,000 people attended a “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London organized by Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a fierce critic of immigration and Islam.