What Liz Truss’s Instagram account reveals about her

After taking over from Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and her team will now have free rein over the official Number 10 Instagram account.

But the new prime minister is already an avid Instagrammer – regularly posting on her personal page since her days as chief secretary to the Treasury in 2017.

Truss on way home to name cabinet; follow live updates

She became so obsessed with the photo-sharing app that her aides at the Department for International Trade reportedly joked they worked for the ‘Department for Instagramming Truss’.

Here we look back at her profile – and what it reveals about Britain’s new leader.

Taylor Swift fan

In the top job, Ms Truss will no doubt get to meet many a famous face.

But her rise through the Tory ranks has already seen her introduced to one of her favourite music stars.

She got a selfie with Taylor Swift at the BAFTA after-party at London’s Grosvenor House in February 2019.

Captioning the picture after Swift’s 2017 song Look What You Made Me Do, the then-minister also started following her on Twitter.

Swift was at the BAFTAs supporting her boyfriend Joe Alwyn, whose film The Favourite won several awards that year.

Other celeb selfies on Ms Truss’s profile include one with proud Conservative Made in Chelsea star Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo and West End legend Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Loves breakfast

Before her Instagram became dominated by her leadership campaign, Ms Truss was a regular poster of breakfast pictures.

Having uploaded photos of a fry-up to her feed on St George’s Day, St Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day, the Full English appears to be her favourite.

One in the run-up to the UK leaving the European Union played on Theresa May’s “Brexit means Brexit” slogan, with the hashtag #breakfastmeansbreakfast.

Cat person

Having served several in cabinet roles, Ms Truss appears to have grown close to Whitehall’s resident cats.

During her time at the Treasury, she regularly uploaded photos of Gladstone and on trips to Number 10, Larry.

Never missing a chance to be photographed with another cute cat, she added she would always be faithful to her feline friends in Westminster – with the hashtag #stillloveyoularry.

Can’t resist a Tory selfie

Since joining the platform, Ms Truss has rarely missed an opportunity for a selfie with her Tory party colleagues, including those touted to be in her new cabinet.

In 2018, she posted a picture of her and her rumoured choice for chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng at the Hay book festival, after the pair co-authored Britannia Unchained about the UK’s post-Brexit legacy.

A year later, she captioned a picture of her and Therese Coffey in Downing Street with the pun: “Coffey before cabinet”. Ms Coffey is understood to be made deputy prime minister and health secretary.

In recent years, she has also been regularly pictured with members of her predecessor’s cabinet, including ex-health secretary Matt Hancock, levelling up secretary Michael Gove and deputy PM Dominic Raab.

Big on pop culture puns

A mother of two teenage daughters, Ms Truss is big on her popular culture references.

Back in 2018, amid hysteria around the BBC drama Bodyguard, she took a picture of herself outside the Home Office, joking she was in need of lead actor Richard Madden to keep her safe.

The same year on a trip to a local zoo, she joked that its group of lemurs was dominated by females, with a nod to the Beyonce song Run the World (Girls).

On a trip to Manchester, she was pictured with a Geri Halliwell lookalike drag queen on the city’s famous Canal Street. Her caption read: “You just can’t drag me away”.

Keen baker

The new PM follows several foodie accounts, including the ‘Instafamous’ Italian grannies and chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Nigel Slater.

But baking appears to be her favourite kitchen pursuit, regularly making birthday cakes for her two daughters.

Alongside a picture of a rainbow cake for her daughter Liberty’s 10th birthday, she joked it would violate the sugar tax.

She also has turned her hand to hot crossed buns and sourdough bread, according to her feed.

Practice at being prime ministerial

As doubt began to surround Boris Johnson earlier this year, Liz Truss was soon touted as a frontrunner in the race to replace him.

Last Christmas, as COVID gripped the nation, she uploaded a picture of herself at her desk with the caption “Merry Christmas everyone”.

Echoing the official picture released by the Queen each Christmas, social media was awash with comments it meant she was a prime minister in waiting.