Less than a month into her premiership, Liz Truss is being accused of causing severe damage to the Conservative Party – and one broadcaster even said she could destroy the Tories altogether.
After the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced £45billion of tax cuts last Friday (amid a cost of living crisis), the pound tanked and the Bank of England had to step in to stop the UK market from crashing.
It’s not exactly the best start for any new prime minister, never mind one elected by the Conservatives – a party which previously prided itself on being financially savvy.
Then a new poll from YouGov dropped on Thursday showing the Labour Party with a 33-point lead over the Tories.
The Times, who commissioned the survey, claimed it was the largest poll lead for any party seen by any pollster since the late 1990s.
Discussing the findings on BBC Question Time hours later, TV presenter Richard Bacon said: “I know that’s only a moment in time, but it feels like a moment nonetheless.”
He continued: “It still seems like an extraordinary reaction to what happened last Friday.
“I mean, Liz Truss could go down in history as the person who wiped out the Conservatives.”
This last comment was met by giggles from the audience.
Bacon isn’t alone in joking about the Tories being beyond redemption, though.
People from across the political spectrum noted that this economic crash will affect the entire party – and it’s all happening just before the annual Conservative conference is about to kick off.
Truss and Kwarteng’s budget is just the latest move from a Tory government to have backfired onto the Conservatives.
Boris Johnson was booted out of office in July over partygate, but crises with the Northern Ireland Protocol and Covid hung over much of his time in No.10, too.
Truss is also the fourth consecutive Conservative prime minister the UK has had since 2016.
So, while current prime minister’s management of the economic crisis has definitely sent shockwaves across the country, it could also be seen as the straw that broke the camel’s back.
As Bacon noted: “Whichever side of the fence you sit on, you don’t want the same party in government in perpetuity.
″It has now been 12 years – which is a long time.”
