Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss has published a new book, Bank Job, in which she offers a detailed account of her brief time in office and attributes her political downfall to opposition from key financial institutions and the media. Truss, who served as prime minister for just seven weeks in 2022, contends that entities such as HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the Office for Budget Responsibility, and several economic think tanks actively worked against her economic agenda.
In Bank Job, Truss argues that her plans for rapid economic growth were undermined by what she describes as a coordinated resistance from unelected bureaucrats, bankers, and fiscal experts. She also accuses prominent journalists and media outlets of bias, suggesting that figures like Faisal Islam at the BBC and Ed Conway at Sky News were part of a broader opposition. Truss is notably critical of her successor and former Conservative Party leadership rival, Rishi Sunak, accusing him of merely following Treasury advice instead of pursuing bold reforms.
The book includes references to various political and economic controversies from Truss’s career, including her notable 2014 Conservative Party conference speech that criticized French cheese imports—a detail highlighted to illustrate her skepticism toward aspects of free trade. She also revisits policy issues such as fracking, framing opposition to it as inconsistent with her pro-growth agenda.
Truss presents herself in Bank Job as a victim of what she terms the “deep state,” a loosely defined concept she uses to describe an entrenched system of power within Britain’s political and financial institutions. This narrative depicts a network of officials, business leaders, media figures, and cultural elites who, according to Truss, collaborated to prevent her from implementing her policies. Observers note that the concept of a “deep state” remains highly contested and is generally considered a conspiracy theory rather than an established fact.
Critics of the book argue that Truss’s explanations reflect a pattern of scapegoating external actors for the political and economic consequences of her tenure. Analysts point to the market turmoil triggered by her government's “mini-budget” as a response to perceived fiscal irresponsibility, rather than evidence of a targeted plot. Truss’s narrative relies heavily on what has been described as “proportionality bias,” attributing a major political collapse to an equally large conspiracy rather than market and institutional judgments on her policies.
The reception of Bank Job suggests it is unlikely to broaden Truss’s appeal either within the United Kingdom or abroad, particularly given the technical nature of the book and her already diminished public standing. Truss’s supporters may view the book as a candid defense of her record, while detractors see it as a symptom of delusion and denial about the realities that led to her rapid political decline.
As Truss continues to engage in public discourse and lecture internationally, particularly in the United States, Bank Job represents her most comprehensive attempt to reshape the narrative surrounding her time in office. However, the book underscores the deep divisions and controversies that marked her leadership and subsequent resignation.