Liz Truss’ advisers used to pretend one of her relatives had died so she could avoid television appearances, a former aide has claimed.
Kirsty Buchanan, who worked for the prime minister when she was justice secretary, was speaking to the Whitehall Sources podcast.
“She didn’t like the media, so we used to spend quite a lot of time making up excuses and killing off minor members of her family so she didn’t have to go on Question Time,” she said.
“Only minor people like aunts and cousins and things — I’m not talking about major members of the family.”
In the interview, Buchanan said eventually they “ran out of excuses” and Truss had to appear on the flagship BBC politics show.
Buchanan said Truss told her she did not mind going on the show as long as an unnamed “X” was not also a guest.
“We turn up in the green room and there is the one person she didn’t want to be on the panel,” Buchanan said.
Truss held a series of senior cabinet jobs before becoming prime minister, including justice secretary, environment secretary, trade secretary and foreign secretary.
She has appeared on BBC Question Time nine times between 2012 and 2019, having served as an MP since 2010.