‘I wanted to get a question in before I was kicked out’
PM hopeful Liz Truss enjoyed a whistlestop tour of Kent on Saturday to whip up support for her leadership bid. Reporter Alex Jee popped along to one of a series of private gatherings...
When I signed up for a ticket to ‘Ask Liz’, I must admit I expected a very formal occasion – something with a stage where there would be a lengthy talk and a few questions.
I was surprised, therefore, to find myself in the garden of a private house near Sevenoaks, standing to wait for her to arrive with a group of about 30 or 40 people, most of them Conservative party members.
It also made me slightly nervous; while there had been nothing to say press were not allowed, lengthy attempts to get a media pass through official channels had fallen flat, so I would have to find the right opportunity to identify myself.
This was not helped by an organiser laughing that he was standing by the front gate to “keep the wrong people
– the reporters – out,” but I convinced myself that was a joke.
I was equally taken aback to discover that Mrs Truss’s rival Rishi Sunak had also travelled to the town the night before.
The ex-Chancellor’s surprise visit to the Stag Theatre had caught a lot of people off guard, it seemed, with many disappointed they did not get the chance to see both potential party leaders.
Still, that frustration did not last long as one of the brains behind the visit excitedly announced the Foreign Secretary was minutes away.
His suggestion that everyone form a guard of honour into the garden, however, fell a bit flat. One voice could even be heard piping up with an unimpressed “really?”.
What Mrs Truss found
instead was an awkward semicircle of keen supporters – and one journalist hoping to get a question in before being ousted.
While she was taken around to shake hands and pose for photos, I overheard her describe Kent as “the best
– of course – of the Home Counties”.
Quite right too – although I’m sure she says that to all of them, despite her “home away from home”, Chevening, being just down the road from where we were.
She then launched into a short speech, covering Ukraine, the economy, Brexit, and other points in the space of about seven minutes.
She also said she was planning to “turbo-charge the rural economy” – something she said was vital for Kent.
“Here, you have everything from great fruit to sparkling wine, but we need to help producers succeed,” she added.
“We also need to protect our countryside – I would abolish top-down housing targets, and instead have locally-run plans.”
Eventually, it came to the questions. When I was chosen for the very last one, I’m happy to say nobody stopped me despite me declaring myself a reporter.
I pushed her on what she would do to address the issues in Dover that have been seen over the last week, as well as the chaos that is constantly inflicted on the M20 by Operation Brock.
Her response was: “I have a phone call due with the French foreign minister to resolve the border issues because the French are not putting enough resources into it.
“We need to get that sorted straight away.”
She then went on to speak about her approach to
Channel crossings, including supporting the Rwanda deal and indeed looking to establish new, similar partnerships with other countries.
Mrs Truss also spoke at meetings in Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Folkestone.
The winner of the leadership contest will be announced on September 5.