When Liz Truss launched her podcast last year, she declared it would bring a “counter-revolution” to take on the “deep state”, which, she said, “tried to destroy” her.
The revolution, however, has not yet arrived. Truss, whose stint as UK prime minister abruptly ended after her disastrous mini-budget crashed the economy, has so far failed to find a wide audience in her media career.
Her podcast episodes hosted on YouTube often receive fewer than ۴,۰۰۰ views each, which is understood to be below the amount generally needed to monetise a video.
Now, Truss is relaunching her podcast and joining the former TalkTV host Mike Graham’s YouTube channel, UKLive, where she will be livestreaming twice a week.
Graham was dismissed from Rupert Murdoch’s digital channel after the company said he had failed to cooperate with an investigation into a racist post that appeared on his Facebook account. The post inquired: “Why are we surrounded by non-white people?” Graham claimed he did not post it and that he was hacked.
The presenter, whose new channel calls itself “the home of common sense”, came to public prominence after claiming on air that it was possible to grow concrete. Graham was questioning the eco-activist and carpenter Cameron Ford on whether timber was a sustainable building material. Cameron said timber was “regenerative”, adding: “You can grow trees. You can’t grow concrete.” Graham replied: “Yeah, you can.”
Graham’s channel does generate income, securing enough views to qualify for YouTube’s scheme that shares ad revenue with creators. While UKLive only averages about ۲۴,۰۰۰ views a video, its prolific output of ۱,۷۰۰ posts in the last year means it has secured ۴۱m views in that time, according to the Socialpruf analytics site. That is enough to generate thousands of pounds a month in ad revenue.
The rise of YouTube has created a home for those shunned by mainstream outlets, but its growth has also in effect created a whole world of broadcasting outside of the regulated world of mainstream TV.
“Since Ofcom took over broadcast regulation in ۲۰۰۳, the way we watch television has changed beyond recognition,” said Chris Banatvala, who was Ofcom’s founding director of standards. “We now have a huge range of content that looks and feels like television – and is often available on the same television set – but isn’t subject to the same standards.
“Viewers may have no idea whether what they are watching is regulated by Ofcom or not – and these regulatory grey areas are only likely to grow.
“It is a good thing that the public has access to such a wide range of views and content. But the law has not kept pace, parliament has yet to confront the implications of this increasingly blurred distinction, and the platforms themselves have not always proved able to prevent serious harm.”
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Truss will be joining a host of other presenters including the former actor Laurence Fox, who was suspended from GB News after making sexualised comments on air about a female journalist. Also on the roster is Mark Littlewood, a former director of the Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank, which praised many of Truss’s economic policies, and the pro-Reform commentator Ellie Hodges.
Truss may hope to benefit from Graham’s larger following; his channel has ۱۷۹,۰۰۰ subscribers compared with her ۳۲,۳۰۰. Recent podcasts from Truss include one in which the commentator June Slater claimed “Labour is panicking as Reform surges in Makerfield byelection”. Andy Burnham won for Labour in Makerfield by a wide margin.
Another is an interview with Lucy Connolly in which she complains she was “jailed for a tweet”. Connolly was sent to prison in ۲۰۲۴ for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers in a post in which she called for asylum hotels to be burned down.
The former prime minister said her new show would have “exciting new guests”. Truss has been attempting to relaunch her career in recent months, including setting up a new private members’ club in Mayfair with the property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz.
The club, named the Leconfield, states on its website that it is a “beacon of sophistication and refined elegance” that has “curated an exclusive sanctuary where tradition meets contemporary luxury”.
