Liz Truss- the new Prime Minister.

 Liz Truss- the new Prime Minister

So there it is. But you must have known anyway. It always seemed only a matter of time and besides it was hardly the best kept secret. Liz Truss duly became the third female Prime Minister since records began. But then there could only have been one result since her opponent and challenger Rishi Sunak was never likely to come anywhere remotely close to Liz Truss in his admirable quest to become Prime Minister. The bets were off ages ago so let's breathe a sigh of relief. 

In the end, the result was clear cut and conclusive, never a walkover but still a commanding margin, sufficient to leave Sunak with a regretful smile on his face. The man did well and performed creditably but when your opponent is a woman there really couldn't be any room for argument. This was a victory for girl power, female empowerment and another sharp reminder to the boys that there can be no room for complacency. 

Now there are probably a whole number of reasons why Sunak missed out on the big job at 10 Downing Street. Maybe he knew everything there was to know about high finance, big bucks and the money game since he was in banking and probably possessed a working knowledge of the Stock Market and the fine minutiae of the business world, having worked for Goldman Sachs. So he could count, add up quite adroitly and skilfully and then multiply before dividing in the same breath. But this would not be Sunak's day.

As faithful henchman to Boris Johnson as boss at the Treasury, Sunak smiled warmly at his governor, obeyed Johnson's every command and then just got on with the job he was appointed to carry out. Then, Johnson finally crossed the line with his latest string of bumbling indiscretions before falling into the political abyss where none would see him ever again. Johnson clung on for dear life in the end but when you find that your popularity rating has reached rock bottom, the very nadir, there was no turning back for Boris Johnson. 

During the summer the whole of Britain went into that honeymoon period when nothing seemed to matter in the political furnace that is Westminster. Most politicians took their buckets and spades, their windmills, lilos and their swimming trunks to their respective seasides both at home and abroad. They then disappeared into their bathing huts, caravans or holiday homes in the Caribbean and tried to be anonymous. But the holiday mood is no longer relevant and it's back to the House of Commons for the movers and shakers. 

Tomorrow Liz Truss will go to Her Majesty the Queen for formal approval and then move her furniture into 10 Downing Street pronto. If she tip toes carefully along the corridor and into the living room she may hear the distant echoes of her illustrious predecessor. You must remember her, surely. Nobody will ever forget Margaret Thatcher because her carbon footprint will never be wiped from history. Thatcher was memorable for all the wrong and right reasons. She polarised Britain in a way that few Prime Ministers had done so and then redeemed herself when the Falklands War was won and our brave troops came home victorious.

In more recent times Truss may look over her shoulder at her last female Prime Minister and find that maybe things weren't quite as bad as they must have seemed. True, Theresa May may have failed to make up her mind on the mad conundrum that was Brexit but she did have a magnificent pair of shoe heels, always dressed immaculately and only got it wrong when her colleagues started deserting her and questioning her prowess as leader of the country. But she couldn't really win wherever she looked. 

There was the horribly distressing moment when May stepped onto a stage and started sneezing, coughing, spluttering and generally being totally incoherent. But she remained dignified, upstanding and defiant to the bitter end. Her last words as Prime Minister were pained, anguished, tearful and deeply emotional. She loved her country but the damage had already been done. The exit door for Theresa May was over there. 

Politics of course is a dirty, filthy business anyway and most of us think that Liz Truss is in for a rude awakening. This is no piece of marzipan cake and Truss may have to roll up her sleeves diligently and get cracking on the mountainous pile of problems that seem to be accumulating by the hour. The tasks may be frighteningly daunting for her but she must have been expecting that this was no straightforward nine to five job with only plenty of overtime throughout the weekend. 

Today she appeared at her podium, speaking clearly and articulately into the microphone. Dressed in a stylish purple dress and her hair perfectly brushed, Truss spoke from the heart forcefully and came across to her audience quite favourably. She was quite clearly not a lady for turning but then Truss is certainly not Thatcher and she'll be decisive when she believes the time is right. The jury will be out for some time but first impressions count for a lot. 

During one of the hustings that preceded this ridiculous beauty contest, Truss was no nonsense, pragmatic, no holds barred and occasionally imitating all the noises made by any Prime Minister but Truss does seem to be a completely different character to Boris Johnson. She'll never describe her weekend away with her family at a child's leisure park, never stumble foolishly over her words, lose her place in a speech or just look at two highly esteemed scientists with a bemused stare. Covid 19 was never going to be Johnson's finest hour but it all seemed distinctly amateurish. 

At the end of one rousing speech Truss left the stage, walked towards the exit and just forgot where to go next. Does she turn left or right? Has anybody got an Ordnance Survey Map? Then there's her overall delivery. The words were executed with care and precision. But perhaps too much. You remember the lengthy pauses, hesitation, brief struggles to make a cogent point and then surrendering to defeat when it didn't go quite according to plan. So she resorted to her innate charm and graceful femininity to gloss over the faults. It was all very deliberate and well-mannered, but you knew what she was talking about. 

And so the show goes on at the House of Commons and Westminster will be like some amusing circus, with all manner of high wire acts treading gingerly from one side to the other. The Tories will be coming from one direction while poor Keir Starmer will be dreading the backlash of the disgruntled members of the Labour party who just thinks he's a dud.

The autumn and winter seasons are almost upon us, the costs of living crisis will grow more problematic, we'll all panic in case the electricity has to go off as it did during the 1970s and things will go downhill very rapidly. Maybe we'll all have to carry candles around our homes when the power cuts bite hardest. Then there's the price of fuel and energy. What a fiasco and palaver. For Liz Truss go our best wishes because you may need as many as you can get. Welcome to the world of Prime Ministerial duties.