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As Liz Truss addresses the nation for the first time as prime minister on Tuesday afternoon, she may be forced to do it from the shelter of a grand Downing Street stateroom rather than at the traditional lectern outside.
But the thunder clouds forecast to gather over central London are not restricted to the weather, with the new prime minister facing an economic storm as soaring inflation and energy bills inflict pain on millions of families and businesses.
A month ago, Truss rejected “handouts” as the best way to help households through the worst income squeeze in 60 years, promising tax cuts and economic reform instead, and has stuck strictly to the script ever since.
But her ambitions to pursue a Thatcherite approach to the economy have since collided with the reality of the scale of the crisis. The Treasury has drawn up a suite of options for the new prime minister to pick from, and the favourite – a freeze on energy bills – involves both big handouts and a huge price tag.
Labour is gearing up to attack Truss as an ideologue, focusing on her ambitions to tear up workers’ rights and reduce the size of the state, and with it public spending on already cash-strapped services like schools and hospitals. They have today launched a major advertising campaign on billboards across red wall towns, telling key voters that “she is not on your side”.
But allies claim she is a practical, logical politician who has already demonstrated a Johnson-like ability to transform from from a student Lib Dem republican to a rightwing Tory culture warrior, and from a Remainer during the EU referendum to a passionate Brexiter. They suggest she will be able to deploy this flexibility while in office.
