WHAT MITE HAVE BEEN

Ex-PM Liz Truss Says 10 Downing Was Bugged—With Fleas

In a new memoir, she dishes on what life was like during her 44-day tenure.

Liz Truss, whose tenure as British prime minister lasted just 44 days, is dishing about her brief time at 10 Downing Street in a new memoir—and it’s not all tea and crumpets. In an excerpt of the book published by the Daily Mail, Truss reveals “the place was infested with fleas.” The culprit may have been her predecessor Boris Johnson’s dog Dilyn “but there was no conclusive evidence,” she wrote. “In any case, the entire place had to be sprayed with flea killer. I spent several weeks itching.” When the Johnsons moved out, they took all their furniture, so the living quarters were initially furnished with a hodgepodge of scavenged pieces from the department store John Lewis. “We ordered some of our own, but were evicted before it could be delivered,” she wrote. Well, at least then she was about to have a good night’s sleep. Truss says getting shut-eye while she was in office was nearly impossible because of the noise. “There was an almost constant backdrop of chanting and shouting through megaphones from protesters camped out on Whitehall. Then there was the clock on nearby Horse Guards, which chimed every quarter of an hour.”