The BBC local radio round has been a pre-conference tradition for political party leaders for many years - a chance to speak directly to voters in all four corners of the UK.
Theresa May once described it to me as being a bit like “speed dating”.
But Liz Truss definitely didn’t find love this morning. It was, at times, a bruising experience for the new incumbent of No 10.
Presenter after presenter put the concerns of their listeners direct to the prime minister.
Questions included: “Where have you been? Are you ashamed? How much suffering is enough?”
Truss kept going back to the support her government has announced on energy bills, while suggesting that the falling value of the pound and rising interest rates were the result of “global” factors.
But BBC Radio Nottingham’s Sarah Julian summed up the feelings of her audience: “People were worried whether they could heat their homes. They’re now worried whether they can keep their homes.”
The PM now faces a series of face-to-face TV interviews with the BBC’s regional political editors, with the footage released later this afternoon.
Presumably the TV interviewers will be no less scathing than their radio counterparts …
So, she’ doing the rounds on local radio stations, repeating her inane mantras whilst watching Rome burn. On Friday, she’ll nip onto Radio 2 at around 4.30 to do a bit of serious Jockin’ and ask Steve Wright to tell us that she’s tankin’ the economy…no G.
Apparently, rising interest rates are nothing to do with LT. She says they’re the responsibility of the Bank of England and are the result of a volatile international situation …
Fanatical followers of LT’s vision, of course, believe her - the rest of the world thinks otherwise …
I heard some of these, oh dear, I don’t think this lady knows what she is doing. She sounded so unsure and clueless. Margaret Thatcher she certainly is not.
