Liz Truss has been making headlines ever since the race for conservative leadership debuted. Much less has been heard of her husband, Hugh O’Leary, however.
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With the couple and their two teenage daughters to move into Downing Street this week, let’s take a look at what we do know about the former Tory politician-turned-accountant.
A man of few words…and public appearances
At the onset of the race to replace Boris Johnson, Truss exclaimed that her husband ‘doesn’t want to have a sort of massive public role’, describing him as a ‘very stoic’, yet supportive, person.
In fact, he’s been so successful at staying out of the public eye that his wife has morecat content on her Instagram account than photos with him, says the Evening Standard.
She did, however, post a striking photo of them together at Blagdon Hall on Valentine’s Day 2019 captioned ‘love of my life’. The photo comes around 15 years after Truss’ affair with fellow, married, Tory politician, Mark Field.
Infidelity aside, the couple has been happily married since 2000, after meeting at a conservative party conference in1997. According to Yahoo!News, they enjoyed their first date at an ice skating rink before O’Leary suffered a minor ankle injury. One might say he quite literally fell in love.
Life before Truss
Having grown up in Liverpool, a former neighbour described the now-First Husband as ‘much more serious’ than his siblings as a child. Others have described him as ‘earnest’ and ‘quiet’, bearing similarities to his predecessor, Philip May.
He earned a degree in econometrics and mathematical economics from The London School of Economics, which might come in handy as Truss attempts to tackle the loomingcost-of-living crisis. She stated in a 2018 speech:
It means that whenever I want a late-night discussion about supply-side reform or econometrics, there’s always someone on hand.
Now an accountant, the father-of-two took a stab at his own political career in 2002, having run in the local Greenwich elections as a Tory candidate. Although unsuccessful, it seems that O’Leary may prefer to stay behind-the-scenes of the political arena his wife now oversees.
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