Ben Houchen says Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss 'don't understand' coming cost-of-living storm

Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor, has been one of Mr Sunak’s main cheerleaders over his plans for levelling up after Boris Johnson steps down as Prime Minister.

He told PoliticsHome that neither leadership contender fully grasps the “storm” awaiting them once they become Prime Minister.

“I don’t think either candidate really fully appreciates and understands the storm that awaits them when they come in,” he said.

“There will be people across the country who have never in their lives ever considered themselves to be ‘not well off’, or they would never consider themselves to be in that category of deprivation and needing support, who are worried about energy bills this winter.

“I think for the first time certainly in my lifetime, we’re going to see people later in the year who are going to think ‘I’m actually really struggling here and personally, I never thought of myself in that category’.

“And that becomes a whole different issue.”

Mr Houchen also said that the two leadership rivals are pitching their campaigns to the Tory membership, rather than the country which is dealing with the cost of living crisis.

“I think that’s ultimately damaging for the Conservative Party,” he added.

“It’s one of the reasons I don’t think we should have had a leadership election at all because you could see this coming down the road.”

Recent polling from Redfield & Wilton suggests that the Labour Party now leads by 15 points in Red Wall constituencies, with Mr Houchen seen as one of the main success stories from Boris Johnson’s levelling up project.

Yesterday a spokesperson for the Liz Truss campaign said that the defection of Chris Skidmore to their team on Tuesday night could trigger a “bigger exodus of MPs from Sunak to us.”

“Rishi’s flip-flopping on the economy is clearly upsetting a lot of his backers,” they added.

Mr Skidmore, a former energy minister, previously backed Mr Sunak’s windfall tax on oil and gas companies, saying in May that it was proportionate to the “supernormal profits they are taking and the challenge ordinary households face.”

The Tory MP today said that he ditched the former-Chancellor because he had been “consistently changing position” to “chase votes”.

“I am convinced that we need a bolder, more positive approach to the UK’s future. Above all, we need a leader who will unite the party,” he said in a statement.

“Liz Truss has demonstrated that she has the leadership and personal ability to bring us all together.

“We cannot afford to be seen as a divided party and, for me, I now believe that Liz is the best person to unite us and the country.”

Truss accused of major mistake

Liz Truss was accused of a “serious moral” misjudgement after she appeared to U-turn on her policy of not providing direct support payments to those struggling with the cost of living crisis.

The Foreign Secretary this weekend told the Financial Times that “the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts” before today telling Sky News that she had not ruled out paying families money directly.

A spokesman for the Rishi Sunak campaign said: “This is a major u-turn on the biggest issue currently facing the country.

“Mistakes like this in Government would cost the Conservative Party the next General Election.”

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