Why former PM Liz Truss is trying so hard to crack America

The MP for South West Norfolk has written a book about her time at 10 Downing Street, not in itself unusual for a former PM - though perhaps a pamphlet might be more appropriate in her case - but what's notable is how keen she is to punt it over the pond.

Next week she will launch her tome, Ten Years to Save the West at an event hosted by The Heritage Foundation, a Conservative think tank, with an endorsement from Texas senator Ted Cruz on the cover.

Can Ms Truss do what Robbie Williams and Oasis couldn't and crack America? Or will her MAGA dalliance end as quickly as her premiership?

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Massive market

One obvious reason for the desire to hawk her wares across the Atlantic is the potential financial rewards on offer.

UK publisher Biteback paid just £1,512.88 to secure the rights to Ten Years To Save the West, while Regenry in America paid a little over £6,000.

Clearly those are not eye-watering sums for a former Prime Minister, but the financial rewards on offer from speaking tours can be considerably greater.

Last October the Heritage Foundation paid her just shy of £16,000 to speak at an event, and following the publication of her book she can expect to command even more on the speaking circuit.

She's certainly been putting in the work to sell it, telling the Wall Street Journal that the "deep state" is ready to block the re-election of Donald Trump and appearing on Fox News.

In February she addressed a small crowd at at the CPAC conference, and appeared alongside Steve Bannon, former campaign strategist for Mr Trump.

Her book too aligns her firmly with the MAGA crowd. She deems President Joe Biden and house speaker Nancy Pelosi “unhelpful” over Northern Ireland issues, while railing against Biden for criticising her radical tax cutting policy, describing it as "utter hypocrisy and ignorance".

She has also, of course, paid fealty to the lord of the red hats and given her endorsement to Mr Trump in his re-election bid.

However, tapping into the lucrative Conservative book market is unlikely to be easy.

Crowded out

One problem Ms Truss is likely to face is a lack of name recognition in the US - her miniscule tenure in Number 10 is unlikely to have permeated the wider conscious of the American right.

Still, she's aimed her message squarely at the MAGA mob with the subtitle of the American edition reading Leading the Revolution Against Globalism, Socialism, and the Liberal Establishment.

Whether Ms Truss genuinely believes that the leaders of global capitalism are committed socialists is probably a moot point, it's certainly what large swathes of America believes.

Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world, is frequently accused of seeking to bring about some kind of communist future, despite the fact that would presumably entail his wealth being divided among the proleteriat, his company taken into the hands of its workers and quite possibly his violent death. He's just that committed of a Marxist, apparently.

The problem Ms Truss faces is that there are plenty of people already selling what she's offering.

The most prominent figures in the right wing commentariat crank out books with an industrial vigour. Ann Coulter has written 13, Glenn Beck 26, Bill O'Reilly 34, and Newt Gingrich has managed to churn through 57. Even former vice-President Sarah Palin has managed to have four published despite it being unclear whether she can actually read or write.

Even the lesser lights of the scene are involved in the publishing game.

Dave Rubin, a talkshow host most famous for confidently declaring Jesus Christ "was around a lot of Muslims" because he lived in the Middle East and accidentally inventing Obamacare in the year 2020, has had two books published as has Janice Dean, the weather girl on Fox & Friends.

In addition, the books are rarely as financially successful as may appear.

When the New York Times publishes its bestseller list, it includes a dagger symbol next to entries which have reached the list in a suspicious way such as bulk buying.

Books to receive such a dagger include Ben Shapiro's The Right Side of History, Dinesh D'Souza's Death of a Nation and Triggered by Donald Trump Jr.

Just the appearance on the NYT list can boost sales - but with so much competition out there can we expect Ms Truss to reach those heady heights?

The British aren't coming

So far the darlings of the British right have found their appeal more selective across the pond.

Nigel Farage has tried in vain to carve out a niche for himself, cosying up to Mr Trump and speaking at CPAC but the fact he could recently be seen on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here rather speaks to how successful that approach has been.

Former Conservative MP Louise Mensch emigrated to the US but has no chance of being embraced by MAGA after consistently talking about Mr Trump's alleged links to Russia, at one point reporting that "sources" had told her that Mr Bannon could face the death penalty for espionage.

What chance then for Ms Truss, a politician who has never exactly been blessed with natural charisma or gravitas.

The former Prime Minister famously attracted mockery for telling the 2014 Tory conference: "we import nine-tenths of our cheese… that is a DISGRACE".

In America the competition is with the likes of shock jock Alex Jones of Infowars, whose pronouncements are of the rather more eye-catching variety like "they're putting so many chemicals in the water it's turning the frickin' frogs gay" and "Obama and Hillary Clinton are literal demons, they smell like sulfur".

Everything's bigger in America, and Ms Truss may well find her conspiracies about the economic establishment are just a little small fry for people who follow the Qanon cult.