Liz Truss accused of being ‘absent from duties’ as foreign secretary during Tory leadership race

Liz Truss has been accused of abandoning her duties as Britain’s foreign secretary since she joined the Conservatives’ leadership contest almost 50 days ago.

The Tory frontrunner had been absent from “nearly all” of her ministerial duties for the past 46 days, according to the Liberal Democrats – claiming she was making a “mockery” of one of the great offices of state.

The party said Ms Truss has held only two phone calls as foreign secretary, and no in-person meetings with ministerial counterparts or foreign ambassadors, since her last physical engagement at the G20 summit in Indonesia in early July.

“Liz Truss has decided to take a self-imposed sabbatical from her role as Britain’s most senior diplomat,” said the Lib Dems’ foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran.

“She has spent months more concerned with furthering her own career instead of standing up for the national interest,” Ms Moran added. “Her mask has slipped and her disdain for diplomacy and Britain’s standing in the world is clear as day.”

Ms Truss cut short her attendance at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting and returned to London on 7 July, the day Boris Johnson finally quit as prime minister.

Since Mr Johnson’s resignation, the Foreign Office has made public two bilateral phone calls held by Ms Truss, once with the Ukrainian foreign minister on 15 July and another with her French counterpart on border delays in Kent on 23 July.

Ms Moran said the Tory frontrunner has neglected her duties at a time of crisis – highlighting the Russia-Ukraine war and rising tensions between the West and China over Taiwan.

“Liz Truss has made a mockery of one of the great offices of state in her climb to the top. If she cannot be bothered to be the UK’s foreign secretary, how can we rely on her to be the prime minister?” asked the MP.

A source for the Truss campaign responded: “Liz continues to carry out her day-to-day duties as foreign secretary.”

Ms Truss remains the strong favourite to be named the next PM on 5 September as she prepares to go head to head with Rishi Sunak once again in the penultimate hustings of the leadership race in Norwich on Thursday.

Mr Sunak said on Thursday that he would “of course” back Ms Truss’s controversial tax cuts if she wins the Tory leadership race, and he also denied he will quit politics if he loses.

Earlier this week, Mr Sunak hinted he would reject a job in a Truss cabinet after their bitter battle and refused to say he would vote for her £30bn-plus tax cuts plan – which he has called a “fantasy” – in parliament.

The Foreign Office has been approached for a response to the Lib Dems’ claims.