Ambitious Liz Truss may fail to flourish beyond Tory grassroots - Tom Richmond

She’s apparently the new darling of the Tory party and grassroots favourite, ahead of Chancellor Rishi Sunak, to succeed Boris Johnson as Tory leader and Prime Minister due to her vacuous enthusiasm for the top job and little else.

This matters because it is Conservative MPs – and activists – who will effectively decide the next premier if inquiries into the funding of the Downing Street flat refurbishment confirms that Johnson misled his standards adviser Lord Geidt and Parliament.

And their view of Truss, who never misses an opportunity to promote herself as the reincarnation of Margaret Thatcher, appears to be totally at odds with non-party members who view the Foreign Secretary’s froth as little more than ‘‘a female version of Boris Johnson’’.

They remember Truss, a management accountant before becoming deputy director of the Reform think-tank, as the Environment Secretary whose response to the catastrophic Yorkshire floods of December 2015, and when Tadcaster’s historic bridge was swept away, was a total damp squib.

They’re bemused at how the 46-year-old has reinvented herself in a massive volte-face as one of the most ardent Brexiteers when, in fact, she campaigned for Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.

They recall a Justice Secretary who had to reverse austerity cuts after an epidemic of violence in Britain’s prisons and who then failed to stand up for the independence and integrity of the judiciary over Brexit.

They’re unconvinced by the deals that Truss, who was unsuccessful when she stood for the Tories in Calder Valley in the 2005 election, signed as International Trade Secretary and how they could put at risk the UK’s farming and food sectors.

They note media reports that Truss wanted to lighten the mood and create a more convivial party atmosphere in the Foreign Office after succeeding the dour Dominic Raab – does she have the gravitas to lead?

And, more recently, they’re aware that the former student of Roundhay School – and one-time president Oxford University Liberal Democrats – spoke out in Cabinet against the new

National Insurance levy on health and social care, opposes further increases in public spending and is opposed to any new Covid restrictions. Where’s her compassion for the most vulnerable?

With views that have become more Thatcherite as Truss has climbed the Ministerial ladder, it surprises some that she’s now the longest-serving Cabinet minister after becoming Environment Secretary in 2014 under David Cameron, and that she accepted a brief demotion to Treasury chief secretary when Theresa May lost her majority in 2017.

But Liz Truss appears oblivious to the view that premiers are supposed to govern in the interests of all, not just the Tory blue rosette brigade, and that she’s going to have to face robust scrutiny about her past record in office if she hopes to be accepted more widely as a potential leader – and even PM.

It’s called respect and, rest assured, I intend to continue highlighting the more glaring examples – in spite of the ‘don’t give them a hard time’ whinging from the more blinkered Boris Johnson acolytes.

And I’m even more convinced it’s the right thing to do after reading Doddie’s Diary, the poignant book written by former rugby union gentle giant Doddie Weir as he charts his struggles with MND and his bond with Leeds Rhinos legend Rob Burrow who is also involved in the fight of his life.

It includes his video message to Matt Hancock, the then Health and Social Care Secretary, at the outset of the Covid pandemic when MND sufferers were not on the list of extremely vulnerable people laid out by the Government,

“Mr Hancock is a busy man, but hopefully someone points this out to him. We can but hope,” laments Weir whose book describes, amusingly and harrowingly, Covid’s toll on those, like him, with life-limiting conditions.

And then how he joined forces with other MND sufferers to finally persuade the Government to commit £50m to try and find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease.

As Weir stressed to doctors at various points, he said he didn’t have five years to wait for a breakthrough when Covid vaccines showed what was possible if there was a will.

“Tell us what would speed up the processes and we’ll make that one of our goals,” says Weir who has raised millions through his My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. “As I’ve said on numerous occasions, don’t give me a problem, give me a solution.” Ministers, take note.

YOU can tell Doddie Weir has experienced the best – and worst – of times on the East Coast Main Line between the Scottish Borders, where he lives, and London. “Why does rendezvousing aboard a train feel more difficult than astronauts linking with the International Space Station?” he asks. I can feel his pain.

FINALLY, if 2022 is to be the year of

social mobility and levelling up, all politicians should listen to footballer Raheem Sterling who was the guest editor of Radio Four’s Today programme on Wednesday. He spoke with such insight and passion on these issues while demonstrating how England’s multi-cultural footballers are such forces for good on and off the pitch. Thank you Raheem.

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