Liz Truss’ constituency hangs in the balance after voters look to cast ballots on her record as PM
In 2019 Liz Truss was once again elected MP for South West Norfolk – her fourth election win.
The then international trade secretary and later prime minister romped home to victory with nearly 70% of the vote.
Her constituency was one of the safest in the country.
But now, if the polls are to be believed, it is hanging in the balance.
A dramatic reversal of fortune akin to her time in Downing Street.
And it is that brief, the shortest premiership, which seems to have played an important part in why even in this most conservative of constituencies Conservatives are considering not voting for her.
“My husband lost 40% of his pension when she did what she did. So he’s 67 and still working,” one voter said to me.
Another talked about how she couldn’t vote for Truss because her daughter’s mortgage had risen three times in the past 18 months.
It went on and on.
In fact, I was taken aback by the reaction.
I’ve spent a lot of my time talking to voters in different parts of the country over the past decade and I can’t remember a more visceral reaction to one candidate – and not in a good way.
Time again, there was criticism about how little Truss spends in the constituency and how visible she is during the campaign.
Lots of voters complained of the few chances they had had to interact with her – brief visits and Facebook posts was the criticism.
A spokesperson for Truss claimed the former prime minister has never attended hustings at any election but she does hold constituency surgeries however doesn’t publicly advertise them for security reasons.
It wasn’t entirely negative for Truss, with one voter saying they were leaning towards voting for her and another saying they were wavering but had been spooked by the “tax issue” with Labour.
One voter said they remained undecided ahead of next month’s election as others were unimpressed by the former PM
Others remained undecided ahead of the election, with one voter saying: “I’m a bit undecided, you hear so much, you don’t know who to go for.”
But her political opponents are trying to make this election effectively a referendum on Truss.
The Labour Party, which drew little support here five years ago, reckons it is now in with a chance.
Terry Jermy, the party’s candidate, said: “At the start of this election campaign I didn’t intend to write a victory speech… I’m writing one now.”
The Lib Dems too argue Truss’ record is coming up on the doorstep. “People are very disappointed with her performance as our constituency MP,” says Josie Radcliffe.
Another candidate, James Bagge, is pitching himself as a true-blue independent Conservative – even if he frankly has a small chance of success.
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Truss’ campaign didn’t take up the offer of an interview, insisting she is not engaging with national media, in a statement to Sky News. They said she’s focusing her time on the campaign trail talking directly to residents and as an experienced, high-profile campaigner who will continue to fight for traditional conservative values and stand up for South West Norfolk.
When you stand in a safe Conservative seat, as a former PM, you don’t ordinarily need to worry.
But this is no ordinary election and Truss is a very divisive politician.
It means for the first time in generations this part of Norfolk is up for grabs.
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The UK economy grew by 0.1% between July and September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
However, despite the small positive GDP growth recorded in the third quarter, the economy shrank by 0.1% in September, dragging down overall growth for the three month period.
The growth was also slower than what had been expected by experts and a drop from the 0.5% growth between April and June, the ONS said.
Economists polled by Reuters and the Bank of England had forecast an expansion of 0.2%, slowing from the rapid growth seen over the first half of 2024 when the economy was rebounding from last year’s shallow recession.
And the metric that Labour has said it is most focused on – the GDP per capita, or the economic output divided by the number of people in the country – also fell by 0.1%.
Pic: Reuters
Reacting to the figures, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “Am I satisfied with the numbers published today? Of course not. I want growth to be stronger, to come sooner, and also to be felt by families right across the country.”
“It’s why in my Mansion House speech last night, I announced some of the biggest reforms of our pension system in a generation to unlock long term patient capital, up to £80bn to help invest in small businesses and scale up businesses and in the infrastructure needs,” Ms Reeves later told Sky News in an interview.
“We’re four months into this government. There’s a lot more to do to turn around the growth performance of the last decade or so.”
New economy data tests chancellor’s growth plan
The sluggish services sector – which makes up the bulk of the British economy – was a particular drag on growth over the past three months. It expanded by 0.1%, cancelling out the 0.8% growth in the construction sector.
The UK’s GDP for the most recent quarter is lower than the 0.7% growth in the US and 0.4% in the Eurozone.
The figures have pushed the UK towards the bottom of the G7 growth table for the third quarter of the year.
It was expected to meet the same 0.2% growth figures reported in Germany and Japan – but fell below that after a slow September.
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The pound remained stable following the news, hovering around $1.267. The FTSE 100, meanwhile, opened the day down by 0.4%.
The Bank of England last week predicted that Ms Reeves’s first budget as chancellor will increase inflation by up to half a percentage point over the next two years, contributing to a slower decline in interest rates than previously thought.
Announcing a widely anticipated 0.25 percentage point cut in the base rate to 4.75%, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) forecast that inflation will return “sustainably” to its target of 2% in the first half of 2027, a year later than at its last meeting.
The Bank’s quarterly report found Ms Reeves’s £70bn package of tax and borrowing measures will place upward pressure on prices, as well as delivering a three-quarter point increase to GDP next year.
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