On 2 July, in anticipation of a large Labour victory in the general election, a national poll of voters by Portland Communications had shown that Truss was the Conservative politician most people (28%) wanted to see lose their seat.

At the 2019 general election she achieved a majority of 26,195 over her nearest rival,[3] making it the 11th safest Conservative seat in the country.

[7] South West Norfolk had been held by the Conservatives since 1964 and required a 25% swing to the Labour Party for them to lose the seat.

She had become UK prime minister for a short period and was criticised by her opponents in this election for her lack of presence in her constituency.

[3] Liberal Democrat nominee Josie Ratcliffe was a councillor for Downham East on King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council and had stood for her party in the same constituency for the 2019 general election.

[3][11] When the election was announced, Truss listed her local achievements in a Facebook post, including securing £20 million of regeneration funding for the town of Thetford.

A polling prediction by the Financial Times showed that Labour could beat the Conservatives into second place by a small 1.7% margin, with 32.1% of the vote.

[19] She lost the seat to Labour by 630 votes and did not give a concession speech,[20] though she gave a short interview to the BBC reporter Ros Atkins before she left.