Elections
Liz Truss is the third woman to lead the UK. No woman has been elected US president. Why?
Conservatives in the U.K. may be more positively disposed toward a female leader because of the positive experience they had with Margaret Thatcher.
- Truss follows a trail blazed by Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
- Only one woman, Hillary Clinton, has come close to winning the U.S. presidency.
- Women in the U.S. face hurdles that don't exist in the U.K., including fundraising and media bias.
WASHINGTON – Liz Truss became the U.K.’s third female prime minister on Tuesday, an historic event that did not go unnoticed in the United States, which has yet to elect a woman as president.
What gives? Why do the Brits keep choosing women as their leaders while the U.S. keeps sticking with men?
The latest
- Truss, 47, landed the job by beating Rishi Sunak, who was finance minister under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a Conservative Party election contest.
- Truss follows a trail blazed by Margaret Thatcher, who was prime minister from 1979 to 1990, and Theresa May, who held the office from 2016 to 2019.
- Truss is outspoken, often seen as ideologically driven and frequently compared to Thatcher, the feisty Iron Lady who supported free markets and low taxes, developed a close friendship with Ronald Reagan and played a key role in ending the Cold War.