Liz Truss is poised to become prime minister in the coming weeks after a new survey revealed that she had an insurmountable advantage among Tory members.
YouGov study indicates that 66% of the activists who will choose Boris Johnson’s replacement support the Foreign Secretary.
34% of voters back rival Rishi Sunak, eliminating those who are undecided. Although the 32-point edge is significantly narrower than it was two weeks ago, only 13% of voters remain undecided and nearly six in ten have already cast ballots.
Nevertheless, there is broad sadness that Boris Johnson is leaving, with 55% stating that it was wrong to force him to resign.
As Ms. Truss’s campaign gains steam, there is already infighting inside the Conservative party, with the Sunak camp incensed that several MPs have switched sides.
Those that switch do it solely for their careers, which is spineless. No one forgets a switcher, and it usually ends poorly for them,’ a source told the Guardian. Today, Truss backers waved off a warning from the esteemed IFS think tank that “permanent tax cuts” could place even greater pressure on public spending.
The IFS forecasts that high inflation and interest rates will increase public spending, notably on benefits and pensions.
Combined with sluggish economic growth, this is likely to outweigh any anticipated rise in tax revenue.
The research cautions that a sensible prime minister and chancellor who are committed to achieving the government’s existing budgetary goals and managing the nation’s finances responsibly would be advised not to rely on increased revenues matching higher spending.
The research, according to a spokesperson for the Sunak team, “drives a coach and horses through Liz’s economic strategy.”
The spokesman stated that Rishi has always argued that permanent, unfunded tax cuts will significantly harm national finances and increase inflation.
But Education Secretary James Cleverly, a Truss admirer, told Sky News: ‘Frankly, the expansion of the British economy has not been as robust as we had hoped.
This is what Liz is pursuing; it is a growth strategy. If you don’t have a growth strategy, you don’t have a government strategy.
During the most recent campaign debate in Belfast, both candidates dug down on their economic stances. Mr. Sunak stated that the Foreign Secretary would be guilty of’moral failure’ if she did not prioritize the nation’s poorest, and he cautioned that her policies could exacerbate inflation.
Instead, Ms. Truss asserted that “taxes are too high and are potentially stifling progress.” Team Truss downplayed the IFS report, with a campaign source emphasizing that Ms. Truss “would utilize an emergency budget to jumpstart her plan to get our economy booming and put more money in the wallets of hardworking people.”
“Using the available budgetary space, Liz will reduce taxes and reduce the debt to GDP ratio within three years.” You cannot expand through taxation, and business as usual will not suffice.
This comes after the minister for Brexit possibilities, Jacob Rees-Mogg, indicated a cost-cutting initiative in Whitehall could have gone farther if not for Mr. Sunak.
In the most recent attack on the former chancellor by a prominent Truss ally and Johnson backer, Mr. Rees-Mogg asserted that a “strict control on spending and an emphasis on preventing fraud” had saved £3.5 billion between 2020 and 2021.
Mr. Rees-Mogg, who is also the minister responsible for government efficiency, wrote in the Telegraph: ‘Earlier this year, the Efficiency and Value for Money Cabinet Committee was founded with the goal of saving the public over £5.5 billion annually.
This was regrettably underutilized by the last chancellor, but it must be a significant instrument in the arsenal of the incoming prime minister for reducing waste and inflation.
Ms. Truss earned a further boost when the widow of former Northern Ireland Prime Minister David Trimble endorsed her campaign for No10.