It may seem like a million years (especially for Liz Truss) but the Conservative leadership contest concluded little over a month a go.
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss jostled first for the support of their fellow Tory MPs and then the votes of party members. Most Conservative politicians backed Sunak. The trend was the same in Wales with most Welsh Tories in the Senedd and Westminster throwing their support behind the former chancellor Rishi Sunak.
But there were some who vocally supported the appointment of Liz Truss as leader of the party and therefore the country. Some believed it so passionately they wrote in newspapers and on their social media about the virtues of our new PM.
Read more: Governance in Wales is a convoluted mess that needs to be fixed
Fast forward four weeks and we have had two humiliating U-turns, the party plummeting in the polls, the pound nose diving and borrowing costs for both the government and householders rocketing. At a lot can happen in a month so WalesOnline approached all the Welsh Conservative politicians to see if they still support the Prime Minister given the dustbin fire of PR that we have seen in recent weeks.
Who supported Liz Truss?
Leading the cheerleading for Truss was Tory MS Laura Anne Jones. Throughout July, August and September she has been a hype-woman for the PM that would make any rap artist jealous.
She was the first MS to come out in favour of Truss in July tweeting: "I am supporting Liz Truss to be our next Prime Minister. Liz Truss is the only one who can deliver the economic change we need, in line with true Conservative principles. I trust Liz to deliver for my region and for all of Wales."
You can read the analysis that suggests Wales will be one of the areas that loses out most from the Chancellor's budget here.
On August 24 she proudly tweeted that "Liz gets it".
The very next day she added that "Liz will unite our party" (you can read how former Wales secretary Stephen Crabb has publicly rebuked the polices Ms Truss here ).
On August 15 she welcomed another Welsh politician to the Truss side (she was calling Truss "formidable" at this point). Mr Cairns had originally supported Rishi but had switched as the process went on. Both Alun Cairns and Laura Anne Jones said that "Liz is best placed to save the Union”. You can read here the WalesOnline exclusive about how Truss declined to contact First Minister Mark Drakeford for weeks after she became PM. This is contrary to established precedent.
Once Truss won the campaign to be leader Laura Anne Jones said that "I have no doubt" that Truss "will deliver on her ambitious agenda and respond, react and deliver on what our country wants and needs."
WalesOnline approached both Laura Jones and Alun Cairns to ask if they still supported the PM. Ms Jones refused to comment though Mr Cairns said: "The UK and Welsh economy needs to grow. The focus on growth is absolutely right. Public spending can only continue on the back of a growing economy. I strongly support the Prime Minister and her growth ambitions."
But there were not the only two politicians to "back Liz". MS for Brecon & Radnorshire James Evans also through his support behind her. Like Mr Cairns however, he initially supported Mr Sunak. Mr Evans said: "At the start of the Leadership contest I was backing Rishi but as this has gone on there is only one person to unite the country and the party and that is Liz Truss!"
Mr Evans was all in on Liz (after he switched sides) with his defection tweet still pinned to the top of his profile. He also tweeted: "Liz is the candidate who can unite the country, the Conservative Party and govern with true Conservative principles. She will be a fantastic Prime Minister."
Along with Laura Anne Jones he co-authored a piece on WalesOnline outling why they were backing Truss. In it they said that the new leader "must have the right vision, character and experience" to "hit the ground running from day one".
Like Laura Jones, Mr Evans did not provide comment (or indeed respond to our request. It seems he is still fully behind Liz Truss however as he shared a picture of himself, the PM and Laura Anne Jones at the Tory conference in Birmingham.
The other Member of the Senedd on the Tory benches to support Truss was Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies. He co-authored a piece in the Daily Mail where he said: "Ultimately we believe that Liz is right to take our party and country forward because she is the best placed to bring what we need above all else – unity."
When WalesOnline asked Mr Davies his thoughts on the PM with hindsight he said: "The Prime Minister has my full support.”.
The final Welsh politician to support Ms Truss was Monmouth MP David TC Davies who said: "Yes it was the right decision to reverse the proposal to lower the additional rate. People are not interested in the economic arguments of the Laffer curve at the moment because there Is a face serious cost of living challenge across much of the world. Liz Truss has my full support."
READ NEXT:
- Police force issues apology to two women abused by superior officer
- Children grow up in poverty in the shadow of Wales' greatest wealth
-
Governance in Wales is a convoluted mess that needs to be fixed
-
The vitally-important questions Welsh police force refuses to answer after top officers dismissed
- The most polluted areas of Wales revealed
