Truss takes centre stage in busy week
NEW PRIME MINISTER IS ALSO THE SUBJECT OF LORD ASHCROFT BOOK
POOR Rishi Sunak has been all but forgotten since Sir Graham Brady announced last Monday (5) that he had lost to Liz Truss in the Tory leadership contest.
All eyes were focused on the new prime minister as she was photographed with the Queen last Tuesday (6) at Balmoral, and as she announced her energy package in the Commons last Thursday (8) to help consumers, having insisted throughout the campaign she did not believe in “handouts”.
The death of the Queen has allowed Truss to take centre stage.
Wearing a black dress, she made a statement outside 10, Downing Street, had an audience with King Charles III, who was also new to the job, presented her cabinet to him, and did a reading at a service in St Paul’s Cathedral. She also accompanied the King as he did a tour of the four nations.
Most people will want to rally round the prime minister when the country is in shock following the sudden death of the Queen.
Meanwhile, Lord (Michael) Ashcroft, who wrote the first biography in November 2020 of the former chancellor, Going for Broke: The Rise of Rishi Sunak, has announced his intention of doing one on Truss.
“I have watched the Conservative party leadership campaign with great interest over the last eight weeks,” said Ashcroft. “Now that the results are in, I am pleased to announce formally that I will be writing a biography of the new party leader, and Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss.
“I know that Harry Cole, the political editor of the Sun, and James Heale, the diary editor of the Spectator, are currently working together on a book about Ms Truss.
“According to my contacts in the publishing industry, their effort – which is apparently being produced with the co-operation of Ms Truss and her wider family – will be published this autumn.
“My project will be different. As with all of my previous political biographies, my book on Ms Truss will be accurate, objective, openminded, fair, factual, and even-handed. It will also be independent.
“The research on Ms Truss’s life, career and character which I’ve done already has proved fascinating. It was always my intention, however, to incorporate into the book a rigorous analysis of Liz Truss’s first year or so in office.
“One of my hopes is this biography might serve as a valuable guide to the electorate in the months leading up to the next general election, which must be held by January 2025.
“The book will include comprehensive polling data assembled by me, plus the reflections of focus groups concerning voters’ appetite for a fifth successive Conservative term in government under Ms Truss.
“As well as my forthcoming book on Ms Truss, I have published biographies of David Cameron, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Rishi Sunak, and Sir Keir Starmer in recent years.
“I believe that Liz Truss will prove just as rewarding a subject. The multiple challenges that she faces in every department would test even the most experienced leader. Is Ms Truss up to the job? I hope to be able to answer that question when my book on her is published in the latter half of 2023.”
He will find plenty of masala in Truss’s life.