7/10 is a good score on this one!
Liz Truss has extended her lead over Rishi Sunak among Tory members, according to the latest polls, as the race to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson heats up.
The Foreign Secretary was faced to make an embarrassing U-turn on Tuesday after announcing that she would save £8.8 billion by introducing regional pay boards instead of national ones to set salaries for civil servants, reflecting where they lived.
But experts warned that to reach the sum, the plan would have to branch out further than government departments, with the likes of teachers, nurses, and police officers also receiving lower pay than workers in the South.
It led to outrage from Conservative MPs, and by lunchtime on Tuesday – less than 24 hours later – Ms Truss’ team had released a statement saying the policy would not be taken forward.
Good to see Liz Truss adopting my tried and tested approach of making up insane policies on the hoof then doing a screeching U-turn when it goes down like a fart in a lift.
— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) August 2, 2022
But the day ended on a high for Ms Truss following the publication of the latest YouGov poll of Conservative members, which shows she has extended her lead over Mr Sunak to 34 points in the Tory leadership race.
The survey, carried out for The Times, finds that 60 per cent of party members are now saying they will vote for the foreign secretary to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.
This is compared to just 26 per cent for former Chancellor Sunak.
If Truss is elected leader, it will be the first time a Prime Minister has the same name as the head of state, according to Alastair Campbell.
But unbeknownst to many, ‘Liz’ isn’t actually her real name.
Indeed, if she gets in, Truss will follow a number of UK politicians who have changed their first name in order to muster favour with the electorate.
With that in mind, have a go quiz at our and see if you can guess what these UK politicians’ real names are:
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In conclusion, no, they may not be as funny as the names you’ve made up for them over the years but at least you’ve learned something today.
Moreover, we always have plenty of other inane quizzes to keep you occupied through the week.
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- The JOE Friday Pub Quiz: Week 305
- Why Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit is so important but could have dire ‘consequences’
