Executioner's song heralds brutal humiliation of Truss
The Independent|July 06, 2024
The scalp of the first former prime minister since 1935 to lose their seat was the greatest 'Portillo moment' on the bloodiest of nights for the Conservatives, says Sean O'Grady
Sean O'Grady
Executioner's song heralds brutal humiliation of Truss

Did you see the marmalade-dropper at your breakfast table yesterday morning? On a night with a record tally of Conservative losses, Liz Truss losing her seat was surely the most delicious of the many "Portillo moments" that unfolded.

The former prime minister made us wait, with the slow handclapping heralding her denouement at 6.48am. Absent from the declaration for a while, and not wearing her Tory blue rosette, she should have been represented by a lettuce.

The retribution meted out to her by the people of Norfolk South West was richly deserved. No one who contemplates Truss's career could think otherwise. Not only did she help, with her infamous mini-Budget, shred her party's reputation for economic competence and drive it into oblivion, she will also now serve as the pre-eminent symbol of the miserable end to the Tories' time in power.

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