I owe you all an apology. I have been part of a movement which has encouraged people to just go for it. Believe in yourself. Ignore the critics. Just plough on through. That was pre-Liz Truss, though. We now have a Prime Minister who is basically a female David Brent but without the charm — for all his faults, he never tanked the pound. Let’s pray she doesn’t release a single as part of the fightback strategy.
Truss is so unsuited to the job that she makes you yearn for Theresa May. She is terrifyingly out of her depth, she has the communication skills and charisma of a stapler and is such an amateur that it feels like we have a random competition winner at the helm of British politics. It reminds me of that old TV show faking where someone would pretend to do a job with no experience, except we are now all living out this mad experiment meets political fever dream. How did she get to be in such a position of danger to the country?
For all her flaws, though, I don’t blame her. A Liz Truss was bound to happen because of a completely broken model of political leadership. Since 2015 we have had Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May and Boris Johnson. All people who were unsuited to being Prime Minister and yet enabled by MPs, party members increasingly detached from reality, lobbyists, editors and commentators with their own agenda, mainly involving Brexit. We have created a political culture which propels low-quality people into high office based on loyalty and political woo woo rather than ability. Just look at who we have had — and currently have — in the Cabinet.
It was a no-brainer that Rishi Sunak was a better candidate than Truss. He was sentient, for a start. But the cult of Boris Johnson wanted to punish him. Jeremy Hunt and Penny Mordaunt are evidently much better performers at the despatch box, and while I may not like or agree with them, politics is the art of communication.
A good leader must have political conviction and passion (something Keir Starmer has been accused of lacking, although the polls suggest otherwise) but they also need core competences. A command of the brief; the ability to frame a convincing argument; the ability to process information, listen to different views and take sensible decisions which don’t plunge us into one crisis after another. And to be straight with the public. But those qualities have been decried as “boring, snoring!” Instead, we have gaslit ourselves into thinking leadership is about vacuous slogans, smashing things up, making enemies, demagoguery and having your name chanted in a field or conference hall.
So I’m not surprised Truss thought she’d have a go. Why not? Look at who went before her. She’s surrounded by people who puffed her up and gave her big Girl Boss vibes as the country is having a nervous breakdown. It pains me to say this: but sometimes maybe you should listen to your imposter syndrome. For the good of your party and country.
In other news...
We’re all very aware of our new overlords. No, not Jeremy Hunt. “The markets!” No, not the pork ones. But who are these shadowy forces? I did some high-level research by watching the brilliant HBO/BBC series Industry.
It’s like Succession meets The Big Short. It follows a group of young graduates making their way in a prestigious investment bank, Pierpoint & Co. They’re all horrendous — backstabbing, immoral and ruthlessly selfish — and before you ask, yes… one of them does try to go into politics. Maybe it is the current climate, but we do seem to love flawed, bad faith characters (on our screens, not running the country, just to be clear). The star of the show is Harper, played by the stunning Myha’la Herrold, left. I’d highly recommend it but not on a train or with the family as there’s a lot of sex, drug snorting and banking lingo. Reminds me of party conference season. It also makes one uneasy about “the markets” being the boss of our politics right now.
