“Would’st thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,”
Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?”
Ask Iain Macleod or Denis Healey or Roy Jenkins or Michael Portillo. You can get to the brink of power driven by your talent and ambition. But that final step may be denied you. In Liz Truss’s case, remarkably, it wasn’t. The last thing the late lamented HMQ did was appoint her Prime Minister!
When Truss arrived in Number 10 she’d achieved what far more talented aspirant Prime Ministers had failed to do. At that point a period of thoughtful review would have been appropriate. But instead of angelically fearing to tread too precipitously she foolishly and impatiently rushed in. She really didn’t need to do that!
She seemed determined not to be a coward in her own esteem by letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would”. Nobody, not even her greatest opponents across the floor of the House, would have criticised her if her first action had been to ask for time to assess the post Johnson maelstrom she’d inherited.
Macmillan famously said “events dear boy events” when asked what knocks governments off course. Truss created her own “events” within hours of forming her government. She had no mandate to do what she, with undue haste, actually did. Or tried to do. There had been no election manifesto commitment to introduce the measures she did.
Truss’s belief in the power of the market, deregulation and lower taxation was akin to the view that too often previous governments had intervened to prevent the market getting things right. So less regulation, less government and less tax is always the cure. Margaret Thatcher, broadly, believed the same. But the blessed Margaret took her time! Truss coined the preposterous phrase “Anti Growth Coalition” to describe enemies which were invisible spectres. Nobody knew what it meant.
There is a fine line between not having self-doubt and recklessness. Like her predecessor, but in a different way, she crossed that line. And paid the price. She’s still trying to wipe the blood from her hands.
Paddy’s Blogs in a crazy world 
The quality of politicians in the modern Tory Party is lamentable. This in comparison with past senior Tories such as Ian Macloud and Keith Joseph. Even Thatcher with all her negative qualities was head and shoulders above most of today’s front bench.
It’s interesting to speculate why this situation has happened. I believe most talented people are repelled by a life in the goldfish bowl of modern politics. The law, the City, teaching and medicine are by far the more attractive career options for young people. I think politics unless you have a perverse narcissistic kind of character is the last option to choose.
If Truss achieved high office because she was considered the better candidate than all the rest. It indicates not only a dearth of talent in the Party but also the quality and judgement of the MPs who voted for her.
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