The new Prime Minister must put the public first as energy crisis hits - The Yorkshire Post says

Liz Truss, who looks set to win the Tory leadership contest, has "probably the second most difficult brief" for a post-war prime minister, as David Davis, MP for Haltemprice and Howden, says.

Ms Truss has promised to act immediately on energy bills and supply, which will be welcome news for millions of families, who have been suffering unnecessary anxiety for several weeks.

The fact that she promised an announcement within the first week of her forming her new Government is also positive but there has been an alarming lack of detail on just what the support measures will look like.

As many Tory party grandees have urged, the next PM will have to be honest with voters.

Whether it is Ms Truss or Rishi Sunak who enters 10 Downing Street, they must remember that they are no longer speaking to, nor will be acting on behalf of, just 0.3 per cent of the population.

A failure to do so will result in them being punished at the ballot box. Research by Public First and the Centre for Policy Studies has shown that working-class voters, who make up 40 per cent of the Tory vote, are ‘seething’ at the Government’s failure to get a grip on the cost of living crisis.

The reality is that a lot of families simply won’t be able to cope after regulator Ofgem hiked the price cap by 80 per cent, with gas and electricity bills now set to rise to £3,549 a year from October.

Forecasts suggest that there is more bad news to come and typical annual household bills could hit £5,400 in January.

Like Mr Davis said, ideology will have to be put to one side “to some extent” as the next PM goes about tackling the energy crisis.