Liz Truss is UK’s third woman Prime Minister. Here’s how the country changed under women leaders

The UK finally got its new Prime Minister in Liz Truss after months of suspense following Boris Johnson's resignation. Truss beat Rishi Sunak to become the next Conservative Party leader and the UK PM. Truss is also only the third woman to hold the nation's top spot. 

Politics is definitely a man's world. Even in the 21st century, it is a pleasant surprise for a woman to hold a top political post anywhere in the world. Liz Truss joins the ranks of 31 nations in the world to have a woman leader. 

I think the UK now joins Poland, Finland and New Zealand in the 3 women Prime Ministers club. Any other countries I've missed?

— James Harrison (@JamesWHarrison) September 5, 2022

The UK itself had two women Prime Ministers before Liz Truss:

1. Margaret Thatcher was the UK's first ever woman Prime Minister (1979-1990)
2. Theresa May was the UK PM from 2016-2019

Is this a win for women in the UK? Twitter is divided over whether the UK having three women Prime Ministers means a win for women in the country or not.

Some say that Liz Truss or any other woman Prime Minister in the UK has the right to be just as bad at her job as any other male leader and they don't necessarily need to be held to higher expectations. After all, people usually ignore a million mistakes made by a man, but raise a hue and cry when one woman dares to make just one mistake. 

Others are of the opinion that the UK having Liz Truss, Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister hasn't really gone down well for feminism. 

The UK has its third female PM (all from @Conservatives). As @profsarahchilds has warned, don't confuse a female body for a feminist mind - Truss is very firmly on the right & her policies won't help most women. But still good to see women in power becoming more normalised.

— Prof. Rainbow Murray Ⓥ🏳️‍🌈💙💛 (@RainbowMurray) September 5, 2022

Liz Truss's comments on Trans women have not been confidence-boosting for discriminated genders.   

The UK PM and almost the whole UK doesn't believe trans women are women.

I know there is a smattering of support there, but it's mainly "Go ahead and exist just not as a woman." They consider TW a separate category.

This isn't good enough. Either we have rights as women or not. https://t.co/BhfLnzFzYp

— 💙🏳️‍⚧️ Jayni says Trans Rights! 🏳️‍⚧️💙 (@JayniTigerpaw) September 6, 2022

And the fact that all the three women leaders have belonged to the Conservative Party in the UK is not lost on netizens, who called out the rival Labour Party, which is supposed to be more progressive and liberal. 

The Conservative Party has now had 3 women prime ministers, while the Labour Party has yet to have one female leader.
Irrespective of your politics this is a major issue when thinking about diversity and inclusion in the UK, and should inform policies and analysis accordingly.

— Marcus Ryder MBE (@marcusryder) September 5, 2022

So, was the UK better under women leaders? The general opinion around the world, especially after the Covid-19 crisis, is that women make better leaders than men. New Zealand's Jacinda Arden is the poster child for this perceived perfection, followed by Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen. 

UK has a woman PM. Now UK will do well. History has shown that women leaders fare much better than their male counterparts 💪

— Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) September 5, 2022

How did the UK fare under women leaders? The opinion is, again, divided. It is also unfair to expect better results from women leaders than their male counterparts or denounce them for their mistakes when the same scrutiny isn't extended to male leaders. 

Nonetheless, The i, a British daily, conducted an analysis on how the UK fared under the past two women leaders and what the public perception was. 

Margaret Thatcher 

The i writes that Thatcher was fairly popular with the British public "winning landslide elections in both 1983 and 1987". 

"Margaret Thatcher was not merely the first woman and the longest-serving prime minister of modern times, but the most admired, most hated, most idolised and most vilified public figure of the second half of the twentieth century," The i quoted Biographer Jason Campbell from his book, The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, from Grocer's Daughter to Prime Minister. 

Thatcher's tenure was marked by her economic philosophy of a free market and privatisation. Admirers praised Thatcher for creating a "vigorous enterprise economy" with the ability to outperform other regulated countries in Europe. 

At the same time, critics lambasted her for increasing inequality saying that she sold the country off to private companies. 

Thatcher died in 2013, aged 87. And Liz Truss became famous for modeling her political ideologue and conduct after the late leader. Truss also invited criticism for being a 'copycat'. 

Theresa May

While Margaret Thatcher became the 7th longest serving PM of the UK, May suffered from indignation like outgoing PM Boris Johnson. May was forced to resign in 2019, just 3 years into power, for her inability to handle Brexit. 

May's entire tenure became known for the Brexit failure. Her other major political miscalculation is considered holding a general election, which cost her Conservative Party dearly. 

Theresa May tonight as she realises she's moving yet another place away from the bottom of the 'Britain's Worst Prime Minister' list. pic.twitter.com/WsCnZq1T6D

— David K Smith (@professor_dave) September 5, 2022

Liz Truss has inherited a struggling UK economy and all eyes are on her to steer the country out of the mess. There is also an increasing demand for Truss to call for early general election, so that the public can choose its leader. If not, the next general election will be held in 2025. 

Will Liz Truss make a better leader than Boris Johnson? Will she be Margaret Thatcher 2.0 that she models after? Only time will tell.