Can Jeremy Hunt save Liz Truss’s premiership?
Will the former health secretary’s steadying hand be enough to prevent yet another prime ministerial exit, asks Kate Devlin
Jeremy Hunt once observed that David Cameron and George Osborne had a certain “genius” that allowed them to sell austerity cuts to the British public “without poll tax [-style] riots”.
This weekend it was Mr Hunt’s turn to try the hard sell. In a series of extraordinary interviews on his first full day as chancellor, he tried to level with the British public.
Ahead lie spending cuts, “difficult decisions” and tough economic choices, he cautioned. Just weeks after the prime minister promised tax cuts to win the keys to No 10, he said “some” taxes would rise.
And he refused to commit to a series of other key Truss pledges – including the 1p cut in the basic rate of income tax and raising the defence budget.
Will it be enough? Tory MPs despair. They warn that the crises the government is facing will only get worse. The dramatic fall in the opinion polls comes before voters have even received a higher monthly mortgage bill, they warn. “We will never be forgiven,” one told me. “For that alone [mortgages], voters won’t forgive us. ”
Then there is the question of whether or not “genius” communication will be enough. Many in her own party were horrified when Ms Truss was seen to sack some of her most effective communicators last month, simply because they had picked the wrong team in the leadership race. Within Tory ranks, Mr Hunt is considered to be a good communicator who has experience at tackling some difficult briefs, including as health secretary. But many MPs were furious at Mr Truss’s press conference to announce his appointment – and her U-turn on her flagship plans to cut corporation tax. They accused her of being wooden, and of creating more problems by taking just four questions from the media and giving the same pre-prepared answer to each one.
Then there is the question of how Mr Hunt’s medicine will go down. The government’s U-turn on tax cuts for the wealthiest shows that just 35 MPs can force the prime minister to ditch a policy; already, Mr Hunt is facing a backlash from the remaining Truss supporters and those on the right of his party.
And this is all before the markets respond early on Monday. The old saying is that genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration. The new chancellor certainly gave it all he could in his first few hours in office; whether he can rely on it for many more hours in office remains to be seen.
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