‘Hunt’s running the show’: the day power drained away from Liz Truss

Jeremy Hunt making his Treasury statement on Monday morning, which reversed many of the mini-budget’s policies. Photograph: Simon Walker/HM Treasury

When it was announced that Penny Mordaunt had offered to stand in for Liz Truss in response to an urgent Commons question over the economic crisis on Monday, some Conservative MPs thought it was a joke.

“Why is she asking one of her biggest rivals for the job to take her place? She’ll totally show her up,” one said. It was hard to see the cabinet minister’s performance on Monday afternoon as anything other than an audition for the top job.