Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives have been lagging the left-wing Labour Party in polls and are expected to be defeated later this year, Reuters reports. Over 50 Conservative lawmakers have said they will step down.
"The fundamental issue is that for years and years and years ... Conservatives have not taken on the left-wing extremists," Truss told an audience in Westminster at her PopCons event, adding "And the problem is when we don't know what we stand for, when we're not prepared to stand up for conservative values, who is?"
The Popular Conservatism group, currently comprised of other right-leaning lawmakers, said it was time to listen to British voters and focus on traditional conservative values over issues such as immigration, climate change, and state regulation.
"We've been swimming against the tide when we're talking about conservative values. Whether it's what's going on in our schools and the fact that wokeism seems to be on the curriculum. And in our universities and in our corporate sector there seems to be confusion about basic biological issues like, what is a woman?" Truss said.
Mark Littlewood, the director of Popular Conservatism and a former head of a libertarian think tank, said that the group's aim was not to change the leadership of the party and indicated he would like Rishi Sunak to head it going into the election.
"I think it is a both a vital and ideal time to kickstart this initiative," Littlewood said after acknowledging some would probably ask "what is he thinking?"
