Liz Truss may have lasted only 45 days as Prime Minister, but her role as a full-time Swiftie has lasted much longer.
The former Prime Minister has released her new memoir, titled Ten Years to Save the West. Having famously been outlasted by an iceburg lettuce, her new book will delve into her relatively short time in 10 Downing Street.
So far, the memoir hasn't quite been welcomed with open arms and glowing reviews. The Times labelled it 'as readable as a crisp packet,' before The Guardian's Stuart Jeffries described it as 'unstoppably self-serving, petulant, and politically jejune.'
However, while doing a promotional interview with BBC's Chris Mason earlier this week, it wasn’t just some of the more outlandish statements in the book that got the attention. It also served as a reminder that Liz Truss is quite the Taylor Swift fan.
At the end of the interview, just enough time was left for the pair to bring up worldwide superstar Taylor Swift. As Chris noted that Rishi Sunak also seemed to share Liz's penchant for the singer, Liz revealed that she had once met Taylor at a BAFTA dinner.
'I elbowed my way across the room to demand a selfie with Taylor Swift,' she said, explaining, 'I introduced myself as, "I'm the Chief Secretary to The Treasurer, Taylor. Can I have a selfie?"'
Indeed, the snap meant so much to Liz that she immortalised it on her social media. Scroll back to Liz's Instagram circa-2019, and the smiling post still exists - hashtagged 'Squad goals' and 'Swift work' for good measure.
Liz then went on to reveal her favourite song was 2014's 'Blank Space'. Explaining, 'It's quite a dramatic song. It's good,' Liz's interview then ended with the catchy song blasting out.
Turns out, it's not the first time the former Prime Minister has outed herself as a Swiftie. Over the course of her political career, it seems Liz has often soundtracked her life to Taylor's biggest hits.
In 2020, while acting as Minister for Women and Equalities, she quoted Taylor in the House of Parliament. Directly referencing the singer's hit song ‘The Man’ during an International Women’s Day debate, Liz said, ‘Women are left running as fast as they can, wondering if they would get there quicker if they were a man.’
Back in 2022, Liz walked out at the final Tory leadership hustings to Taylor Swift’s ‘Change.’ The lyrics read, ‘It’s a revolution / The time will come for us to finally win.’ Later that day, she left the stage to yet another classic Taylor song – triumphantly dancing her way out of Wembley to 'Long Live.'
It's only natural that politicians, like us, have their favourite artists. However, musicians haven’t always taken so kindly to their popular songs being dragged into politics.
Perhaps most controversial of all was former President of the United States Donald Trump, whose right-wing views spurred the likes of Adele, Aerosmith, Elton John, and The Rolling Stones to hit back at his use of their music.
When Adele discovered that her songs ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and ‘Skyfall’ were being used by Trump, she issued a statement insisting that she did not directly grant him any permission to play her music.
The Rolling Stones also spoke out about their songs ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ and ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ appearing during Trump campaigns. While the iconic band repeatedly asked the former President’s team not to play their music – even threatening the businessman-turned-politician with a lawsuit - the Stones had no legal rights to stop Trump from using them.
Also quick to shut down the former President was Elton John, who would later turn down an invitation to perform at Trump's inauguration. Elton asked that his songs were not used during the 2016 presidential campaign - yet Trump continued to use songs such as ‘Tiny Dancer’ at his political rallies.
However, successful at their attempt to have their song ‘Dream On’ banned from Trump’s playlist were American rock band Aerosmith. Following a cease-and-desist letter, the licensing company pulled Aerosmith’s songs from the Trump campaign’s blanket licensing, meaning there was no option but for them to be removed.
Even Truss herself has been in the hot seat over her musical choices. Leaving her Taylor playlist in the drawer for once, the former Prime Minister previously walked onto the stage to the sound of M People’s ‘Moving On Up’ at a 2022 Conservative Party conference. Less than impressed with the move was M People Founder Mike Pickering, who tweeted, ‘So apparently we can’t stop Truss walking out to our song, very weird!’
‘So sad it got used by this shower of a government. [By the way] Truss, Labour used it with permission in [the] Nineties. I don’t want my song being a soundtrack to lies.’
Like many, Liz Truss may have spent many anxious hours in Ticketmaster queues, waiting to bag herself Eras tour tickets. She’s made it clear that she’s an avid fan, but it’s not known how Taylor feels about Liz Truss. Indeed, it appears the ‘Karma’ singer has seemingly never uttered the former prime minister’s name online.
What is known, however, is Taylor’s political leanings over in America. Initially staying quiet in the early stages of her career, she's less shy about sharing her political views now.
In 2018, she supported Democratic candidates in Tennessee - a move that led Trump to insist he liked Taylor's music '25% less now.' During the 2020 election, Taylor endorsed Joe Biden and vowed to then President Trump that ‘we will vote you out.’
Aligned with liberalism, Taylor is vocally pro-choice, pro gender equality, and a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights. Publicly standing against racism, homophobia and sexism, Taylor often encourages her fanbase to vote – even writing her 2018 song ‘Only The Young’ in response to the US Midterm elections (she later allowed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to use the song in a campaign ad - marking the first time she's allowed her song to be used to support a political candidate).
Liz has made it clear that she's a 'Swiftie', but Taylor certainly hasn't yet revealed herself as a 'Trusser.'
Charlotte Roberts is a News and Entertainment Writer for Grazia, writing interviews and features around everything pop culture.