Some “classic” Liz moments were thrown in. Smiling blankly, she promised to “squeeze families”, rather than (one would assume) “help squeezed families”. At times, he even seemed to recall other iconic Truss moments, such as this speech about pork and cheese markets nearly a decade ago. “THIS,” she said dramatically, pausing to turn the page at some point. (Is it shame?) “THIS, my friends, is why I am trusted to deliver.” Finishing, he went to what he thought was the exit, but was actually the press pool in the middle of the room. Truss may have looked and sounded like a haunted puppet at times, but her pledges were red meat for the Tories – tax cuts, “bold supply-side reform”, increased defense spending. And therein lies the tragedy of the leadership race. Liz Truss has all the right ideas but struggles to communicate them. Penny Mordaunt has everything wrong, but she is a master communicator. If only CCHQ could combine their DNA somehow and create a sort of Tory election winning Dolly the Sheep sound. At the Palace of Westminster, the final votes were cast on the leadership ballot. Jeremy Hunt arrived to vote and received a comforting hug from a standing MP for his trouble. Michael Gove, mysterious as the last, gave his moments before the deadline. Graham Brady read the results to a subdued room of MPs and hacks – Braverman out, Truss passed on 64. Let’s hope the DNA splicing happens before the televised debates.
