Having only appeared once in public since the mini-Budget – in a pre-recorded message to attendees of the Atlantic Future Forum – Liz Truss spoke to 24 local and regional BBC interviewers. The media round was widely considered unsuccessful. She blamed inflation on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and defend her economic approach, between awkward questions, pauses, and answers.
A poll from YouGov placed Labour on 54 per cent – 33 per cent ahead of the Conservatives on 21 per cent. According to the poll, support for Truss’s party had fallen by seven points in only the previous four days. Analysis from Electoral Calculus suggested the Conservatives might only win three seats in a result reminiscent of the 1993 election in Canada.
Meanwhile, Mel Stride, the Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, called for Kwasi Kwarteng to attend his committee and hand over independent growth, demonstrate that growth forecasts were realistic, or make cuts to public spending. It was announced that Truss would fly to Prague to join Emmanuel Macron’s new ‘European Political Community’.
With acknowledgments to Harry Cole and James Heale‘s Out of the Blue: the Inside Story of the Unexpected Rise and Rapid Fall of Liz Truss