A senior Liz Truss supporter has revealed her anger at Rishi Sunak for constantly “interrupting” her during their stormy TV debate, when they clashed over tax cuts and the economy.
The Tory leadership race favourite was captured shaking her head as the former chancellor talked over her – prompting accusations that Mr Sunak was guilty of mansplaining.
Simon Clarke, who is tipped to be Ms Truss’s chancellor if she wins the contest for No 10, criticised Mr Sunak, while insisting he would still be welcomed into her cabinet.
‘There was genuine frustration at the tone which Rishi struck in the opening 20 minutes or so of the debate and the way he kept interrupting Liz when she was trying to set out her side of the story,” the Treasury chief secretary said.
The criticism came as Mr Clarke admitted Ms Truss’s much-criticised £30bn-plus of unfunded tax cuts might led to public spending cuts in her promised emergency budget.
He said: “We will look at public spending, at part of a new spending review when she becomes the prime minister, and make the choices required to support her tax plans.”
Mr Clarke also said he expected Boris Johnson to appear at the Conservatives’ autumn conference, despite evidence that he bitterly resents being forced from office by his party.
“Boris Johnson will always be welcome at a Conservative party conference,” the minister told Times Radio.
After the debate, a spokesperson for the Truss camp branded Mr Sunak “not fit for office”, adding: “His aggressive mansplaining and shouty private school behaviour is desperate, unbecoming and is a gift to Labour.”
However, the foreign secretary later backed away from the accusation and, at the close of the debate, said Mr Sunak would be offered a top job if she wins the contest.
David Davis, a Sunak supporter, dismissed the accusation of mansplaining as “spin”, saying: “Sometimes it’s important to intervene in debates.
“When we’re in the Commons, we have these comparatively fierce exchanges lots of times, all the time. This is a debate to find the prime minister of this country.”
A snap poll suggested Mr Sunak failed to achieve the breakthrough he badly needs to overhaul Ms Truss when ballot papers go out to the estimated 160,000 Tory members next week.
It found 47 per cent of Conservative voters believed the foreign secretary came out on top – compared with only 38 per cent handing victory to the former chancellor.
The pair stoked the fears of many Conservatives that their party will fail to heal after the election, Mr Sunak warning Ms Truss’s economic plans would “tip millions into misery”.
She hit back by accusing him of “scaremongering”, reviving ‘Project Fear’ – despite Ms Truss being a Remainer at the Brexit referendum – and likening his tax hikes to those of Labour’s Gordon Brown.
