Hugh O’Leary is incoming British prime minister Liz Truss‘ husband. He is an accountant. O’Leary and Truss have two daughters together, Florence and Liberty.
Truss replaced Boris Johnson as prime minister after winning the vote of Conservative Party members by 81,326 votes to 60,399, beating out former finance minister Rishi Sunak, according to Reuters. She was appointed on September 6, 2022, by Queen Elizabeth.
O’Leary and Truss have been married for more than 20 years and met at a Conservative Party meeting.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Truss’ Husband, Hugh O’Leary, Is an Accountant Who Stays Out of the Limelight
Hugh O’Leary is an accountant who has shied from the spotlight as his wife’s political career has taken shape. His public appearances are so sparse that he prompted a column from The Guardian joking that perhaps he did not exist.
“Do you believe in Hugh O’Leary?” wrote Columnist Catherine Bennett. “I do, although at this point, after an entire leadership campaign in which Liz Truss’s rumoured husband has gone unseen and barely mentioned, it’s understandable if some people have concluded he enjoys the same figment status as her inborn Yorkshire values or hardship years in Leeds.”
Bennett went on to call O’Leary’s choice to stay out of the spotlight “admirably progressive.”
Truss rarely posts pictures of her husband on social media, but shared a photo on her Instagram page Valentine’s Day with her husband, writing, “Love of my life.”
2. Truss Asked O’Leary Out on Their First Date, & He Sprained His Ankle
I am honoured to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party.
Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country.
I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential.
O’Leary sprained his ankle on their first date, after she made the first move and invited him ice skating, You magazine reported in 2019. The two met at the 1997 Tory Party Conference, the magazine reported.
They were married three years later. O’Leary grew up in the north west, and left the area to study mathematical economics at the London School of Economics, according to BBC News.
“His mathematical mind may well have been what attracted Ms Truss, who is the daughter of a mathematician and is said to be passionate about the subject,” BBC reported, referring to Truss’ father, John Truss.
Read more about Truss’ dad, mom and other family members here.
3. Truss Had an Affair in 2006 With Fellow Conservative Mark Field Which Led to Attempts to Remove Her as a Candidate at the Time
The “scandal of affair” is the least of the reasons why Liz Truss could be a terrible PM but @thetimes dresses it with sympathy to give readers all the details.
Old trick by high-minded newspapers.
Truss had an affair with fellow conservative Mark Field, which came to light in 2006, according to BBC News. Local party leaders attempted to remove her from candidacy at the time for the South West Norfolk constituency, the news outlet reported.
However, both Truss’ marriage and her political career survived.
“I am really sorry about that. It’s a mistake I made and as far as me and my husband are concerned it’s water under the bridge,” she said, according to the BBC.
She went on to call it “a baptism of fire.”
“It was difficult but… I was so determined to stay selected and I wasn’t going to let… you know, I worked really, really hard and I won that selection fair and square,” she said in a 2019 interview. “And, actually, even though it was a really unpleasant thing to go through, it made me stronger afterwards because I had to have that fight.”
When asked if it also made her marriage stronger, she said, “I think that’s a separate thing. But I am really happily married.”
4. O’Leary Ran for Councillor of Greenwich 3 Times, & Was Unsuccessful
Liz Truss will become UK’s next prime minister after beating Rishi Sunak in race to succeed Boris Johnson
O’Leary ran three times to be councillor in Greenwich, south London, but was unsuccessful each time, according to the BBC. He ran for the office in 1998, 2002 and 2006. In the year of his final run, Truss became a councillor for Eltham South.
Truss was an upcoming political leader in 2009 when The Guardian reported on her political background.
“As the deputy director of Reform, Truss has co-authored influential papers on education and economic policy,” The Guardian wrote in 2009. “She is also a local councillor for the Eltham South ward in Greenwich. One of David Cameron’s A-listed parliamentary candidates, Truss has already stood twice for election in Yorkshire constituencies – she fought Hemsworth in 2001 and, four years later, she contested the safe Labour seat of Calder Valley, halving the majority to 1,367.”
5. The British Prime Minister’s Future Family Home Includes 56-Acre Park & Heated Swimming Pool
Boris Johnson will officially move out of Downing Street this week, as he will formally resign as Prime Minister on Tuesday. But, who else lives in Downing Street ?👇
Truss and her family will likely make their home at 11 Downing Street, according to the Guardian, where every British prime minister has lived since 1997. Incoming prime ministers have the option of living at either 10 or 11 Downing Street, but in recent years they have chosen the latter for its larger living quarters and “trendy” stainless steel, open plan kitchen, the news outlet reported.
The address includes a 25-hectare park, St. James’s Park, and a “huge” lawn and heated swimming pool, the news outlet said.
Samantha Cameron told The Guardian the living arrangements involved “weirdness” for the children of the former First Family.
“The flat is very private but you’re living above the shop. All the security arrangements make it incredibly hard for people to come and go,” Cameron told The Guardian. “You are living in a fortress. It’s not normal.”
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