Liz launches her charm offensive
Truss to meet restive MPs as she tries to get her premiership back on track
LIZ Truss will embark on a major charm offensive this week in an attempt to unite Tory MPs behind her leadership.
After the Conservatives’ annual conference was marred by infighting, rebellions and U-turns, the Prime Minister wants to use the return of Parliament from recess to settle nerves.
She will host a series of meetings with MPs who have raised concerns about everything from her tax-cutting plans to the party’s chances at the next general election.
Some have already been invited in small groups to chat with Miss Truss in Downing Street, sources told the Daily Mail.
Miss Truss has also asked to address the 1922 Committee of backbenchers on Wednesday, in place of her Chancellor Kwasi
‘We’ve got to turn things around’
Kwarteng. One insider said last night: ‘It’s a concerted effort. There is going to be a lot of engagement happening.
‘It will involve meeting MPs in small groups, and being more available to MPs.’
With her first month in charge overshadowed by the Queen’s death and funeral, the radical mini-Budget and the chaotic party conference, No 10 is hoping this week’s meetings will provide an opportunity to get Miss Truss’s premiership back on track.
But one party grandee warned: ‘It will help a bit but people are unhappy. We are in quite a difficult situation.’
In another move aimed at restoring unity, four Cabinet ministers wrote articles for Sunday newspapers urging their Conservative colleagues to get behind the PM or risk letting Labour win the next election in two years.
However, senior Tories continued to call for Miss Truss to change tack yesterday.
Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries insisted she was still one of the PM’s biggest supporters, but told the BBC: ‘ You have to put that into the context of the fact that we are 30 points behind Labour in the polls. And if there were a general election tomorrow that would probably mean a complete wipeout for the Conservative Party.
‘The fact is that just after a leadership election, and at the start of a new administration, what we don’t need is a disrupter, what we need is a unifier.’
Miss Dorries, an ally of Boris Johnson, urged his successor not to ditch his policies – but also said rebels should not try to get rid of her. Asked if she thought Mr Johnson could make a comeback, Miss Dorries said it would be ‘highly, extremely unlikely’. As the turmoil continued, The Mail on Sunday reported how allies of Miss Truss branded former Cabinet minister Michael Gove – who led the revolt against the 45p tax rate cut – as ‘sadistic’ and ‘deeply troubled’.
The chairman of the Treasury committee, Mel Stride, described the mood of Tory MPs as ‘fairly febrile’, with a series of opinion polls putting Labour well ahead.
He told Times Radio: ‘There are a lot of backbenchers and members of the Government who are very concerned at where we are in the polls. We’ve got two years to a general election. We’ve got to turn things around and start doing it very quickly.’ He blamed the economy, the ‘missteps’ by the new administration and the fact that Miss Truss had not sought to ‘reach out’ to supporters of her leadership rival, Rishi Sunak.
‘The Prime Minister decided, after she won that contest, to form a government, which was predominantly made up of those that were strong supporters of her personally, and that’s fine. And I have no problem with that,’ Mr Stride said. ‘But I think there was a shortfall when it came to reaching out right across the party. And I think you’re probably seeing some of the consequences of that now that things are getting a bit tougher.’
Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer did not rule out standing as an independent candidate unless the Tories got back on track in the centre ground.
He told Channel 4’s Andrew Neil Show that he wanted his party to bring about ‘real change for people who need it’. Former chancellor George Osborne piled on the pressure by telling the same programme that a ‘ Tory wipeout is potentially on the cards’.