Liz Truss insists Tony Blair was the worst British prime minister

Tony Blair was Britain’s worst prime minister ‘in recent years’, Liz Truss has said.

Ms Truss, whose premiership in 2022 lasted a just 49 days, criticised the former Labour PM for his record introducing legislation on climate change and human rights.

Sir Tony won three successive elections and governed for ten years – the longest of any UK prime minister except Margaret Thatcher.

The Conservative MP for South West Norfolk also criticised media for ‘going for politicians’ instead of other public figures, such as the governor of the Bank of England or the CEO of Natural England.

Speaking to her local newspaper, Ms Truss blamed the ‘unelected state’ for preventing her from achieving her aims while in office, as well as defending the infamous mini-budget which alarmed markets and saw the pound plummet.

Sir Tony Blair was the worst prime minister ‘in recent years’, Liz Truss has said

Ms Truss, who is running to defend her parliamentary seat, called on Rishi Sunak to court public support by abandoning all net zero targets, the Telegraph reported.

The former prime minister said: ‘We have a problem in this country that someone elected on a mandate can’t deliver that mandate because the unelected state don’t want to deliver it.’

Defending the steps she and Kwasi Kwarteng during their short time in government, she said that neither of them knew about liability driven investments (LDIs), a mechanism which sees funds invest in long term gilts. 

But she denied to Eastern Daily Press that she was aiming for a second tilt at the top job, remarking that she was ‘once bitten twice shy’, adding that she would be fighting ‘very hard’ for her constituency on a ‘positive campaign’.

Ms Truss also criticised media outlets for going after politicians rather than other public figures, and defended her mini budget

In her battle for re-election, Ms Truss is up against Labour councillor Terry Jermy and also faces a challenge from former Conservative James Bagge and Toby McKenzie, the Reform UK candidate.

In an exclusive series for the Mail, Ms Truss revealed that Downing Street was infested with fleas – which some put down to Boris and Carrie Johnson’s pet, Dilyn the dog.

She also disclosed that the late Queen’ s last advice to her was to ‘pace herself’, adding that she regretted not having listened to her words.

In April she endorsed Donald Trump while launching her new book, Ten Years to Save the West, which she notably held upside down while promoting the work on Fox News.