Liz Truss solidified her position in the race for Boris Johnson despite the outrage she sparked after she made a promise, which she later retracted, of a massive cut in public sector wages.
An opinion poll published by YouGov in The Times showed that the 47-year-old foreign minister widened the gap between her and her rival Rishi Sunak. And 60% of conservative voters polled over the past five days have confirmed they will vote for her, compared to just 26% for the former finance minister. The latest figures contrast with a previous special poll by the same British daily that showed Liz Terrace ahead of Sunak by just five points on Tuesday. This new poll, bolstering the foreign secretary’s stance, comes after she sparked controversy on Monday night by announcing a plan to save £8.8bn (€10.5bn) in public sector wages by tying it to cost of living in each region.
Some conservatives have argued that these cuts will make nurses, police officers and even teachers poorer in already disadvantaged areas. On Tuesday morning, just 12 hours after announcing her project, Liz Truss scrapped the idea, with her spokeswoman denouncing its “deliberate misrepresentation.” The Conservatives often support cuts to public services, but they won the 2019 legislative election promising to ‘upgrade’ disadvantaged areas, especially in northern England, and in those areas they have seen tremendous progress in voting.
