How will new UK foreign secretary Liz Truss play her Gulf hand?

As the first woman to hold the post in more than a decade, she will likely bring a more “amenable” touch to the role than her predecessor, said Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu).

Truss, a free marketer who is highly popular with Conservative members, had been international trade secretary since 2019.

British trade with GCC members was worth $61 billion in 2019 – the fourth largest amount after the EU, US and China. The door to a UK-Gulf deal was opened last November when Truss launched a joint review into economic ties, which was concluded last month. Based on the review findings, new UK-Gulf trade deals are expected to be announced in the coming months.

New style, same substance?

“While it’s hard to predict what Truss might change in terms of substance, she might bring a style change compared to her predecessor Dominic Raab,” said Doyle.

Raab, who was demoted to justice secretary in the wake of the Afghanistan crisis, is rumoured to have lost the confidence of his party this year.

Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu).

“It makes it very difficult to do your job when you lose party confidence, so a new minister could give Britain’s foreign policy a new boost,” said Doyle, adding that Raab is a “cold, analytical lawyer” and Truss possesses a softer diplomatic style.

But for the most part, Doyle said he expects UK-Gulf relations to continue “business as usual” under Truss.

Trade driver

Truss, who has been instrumental in driving post-Brexit UK-Gulf trade talks, was appointed as UK foreign secretary just a few days after the UAE announced it would invest £10 billion ($13.8 billion) in priority sectors in the UK under a new Sovereign Investment Partnership (UAE-UK SIP) agreement.

According to Scott Lucas (pictured below), professor emeritus, international politics at University of Birmingham, Truss is “extremely well liked” among Conservative party members.

“Her name has been put out there as an international trade star,” he said, adding that Truss’s appointment was also viewed as good move for improving government diversity. “Two of the top UK government roles – foreign secretary and home secretary [Priti Patel] – are now held by women,” Lucas added.

“Truss will, of course, pursue trade deals with the Middle East and try to ramp them up… but just because the UK has a new foreign secretary, it doesn’t change the USP of British exports,” the professor said.

“Right now, there will be no game changer move. Frankly, the UK doesn’t have the budget reserves to do anymore than it’s doing to promote Gulf trade links – the budget has been squeezed by Brexit and Covid complexities.”