Conservative Party conference speech could be defining moment for Liz Truss's premiership

Future of under-fire PM could hinge on power of her address to increasingly restless Tories

Liz Truss speaks at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London after being announced as the new Conservative Party leader and prime minister. PA

British Prime Minister Liz Truss faces a make-or-break week as she delivers her first speech to the Conservative Party conference as prime minister, with many of her MPs furious that her economic plan has triggered market chaos and eroded support.

The radical idea to spur on growth with tax cuts has led to the pound plummeting and government borrowing increasing, with inflation remaining high. It has been followed by a series of U-turns and ill-discipline among colleagues who have broken ranks to complain of the un-Tory nature of the policies, resulting in a disastrous few days in Birmingham.

Some voters now face soaring mortgage payments and the government’s plans have had a significant effect, culminating in a huge slump for the Conservatives in opinion polls.

Despite the criticism, Ms Truss has remained resolute that she chosen the right path and will use the conference to woo MPs, convincing them that her policies will lead to economic growth.

If she fails, then her tenure as prime minister could be one of the shortest in history.

Wednesday will provide an opportunity for Ms Truss to reverse the turbulence of her leadership when she makes the most important speech of her political career.

Exactly four weeks since she stood in Parliament basking in the support of her own MPs at her first Prime Minister’s Questions, she will now be under an unforgiving spotlight, delivering the keynote Conservative Party conference speech.

In effect, after the disastrous mini-budget it will be a “do-or-die” moment, requiring something memorable and with enough strength to reverse her troubling first chapter.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss speaks at the ruling Conservative Party's annual conference in Birmingham. Reuters

Attendees take their seats before the keynote speech by Ms Truss. Bloomberg

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi speaks. PA

Prime Minister Truss and her husband Hugh O'Leary arrive for day four of the Conservative Party conference. Getty Images

A delegate wears a red 'Make Britain Great Again' cap. Getty Images

A member of the audience wears socks with Union Jack colours. Reuters

Liz Truss and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng visit the construction site of a medical innovation campus during day three of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Getty Images

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly arrives at the conference. Reuters

Former home secretary Priti Patel speaks in Birmingham. Getty Images

A delegate is pictured with a bag displaying pictures of former Conservative prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill, Boris Johnson and Margaret Thatcher. AFP

Mr Kwarteng delivers a speech on day two of the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Getty Images

Liz Truss, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Therese Coffey listen to Mr Kwarteng speak. Reuters

Ms Truss arrives for the Conservative Party Conference. EPA

Leaflets with Ms Truss on the cover are seen on the second day of the conference. Getty Images

A person attending the conference carries a bag from the Taxpayers' Alliance. EPA

Refugees present Tory delegates with 'one-way tickets' to Rwanda during a protest outside the Conservative Party annual conference. PA

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg laughs as he arrives. EPA

Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng chat at the opening session of Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. EPA

A protester demonstrates outside the annual autumn conference. Bloomberg

Mr Kwarteng gives a TV interview. Reuters

Protesters march with placards at a demonstration in Birmingham against the Conservative government as the party's conference started in the city. Bloomberg

The prime minister and members of her Cabinet sing the national anthem at the opening session. EPA

Penny Mordaunt, Leader of the House of Commons, pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. PA

Protesters and police clash in Birmingham city centre. Getty Images

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson is reflected in Mr Kwarteng's glasses. Reuters

A protester holds a placard condemning the chancellor. Bloomberg

Ms Truss arrives at the conference. Bloomberg

Delegates take a break outside the venue on the opening day. AFP

The future of Ms Truss, the Conservative Party and potentially Britain rests on what she says and how she delivers her words in Birmingham at 11am.

The National has spoken to two leading media trainers to understand what is required to ride the crashing wave threatening to engulf her government.

“This is the most important political speech of her life and of a Conservative leader in a very long time,” said Robert Taylor, who has trained several members of Ms Truss’s Cabinet.

“She has just this one chance to make a good impression.”

In the world of news ingested via mobile phone screens, be Ms Truss’s appearance will be of near equal importance to her speech’s content, said Polly Middlehurst, who has also trained current and former Cabinet members.

“It’s always about the optics,” she said. “Whether we like it or not, we are now immersed in a 24/7 culture. The public is judging its politicians chiefly by consuming a series of images, often while they are on the go and often without sound.”

Make Britain Great Again?

Normally, new prime ministers experience a “bounce” in the polls. Ms Truss has done so but a backward one, with the latest surveys suggesting her party is 33 points behind Labour.

But a handful of words can sometimes can work political magic. “Get Brexit Done” led to Boris Johnson winning a thumping 80-seat majority in 2019.

“For the many not the few,” was hugely powerful for Tony Blair. A simple “yes, we can” secured former president Barack Obama’s first term.

Boris Johnson on the general election campaign trail in 2019. Getty

“What does everyone remember about Donald Trump in 2016?” asked Mr Taylor.

“Make America Great Again and what was Hillary Clinton's message? I haven’t got a clue. No one knows and no one can remember.

“I can't tell Liz Truss what that line is, but she's got to come up with something that captures the essence of the issue under consideration today.”

For that, she will need all the help of her aides and speech writers to produce something more refined than the current justification for tax cuts suggesting “instead of redistributing a shrinking pie, we want to grow the pie”.

To succeed, a politician needs “brilliant speech writing, fabulous delivery, capturing the issue of the day and a few well-chosen words”, said Mr Taylor.

“And what Truss needs to do on Wednesday is all four. If she can do that, she might restore some confidence.”

90 per cent optics

In the world of snap social media clips, it’s the optics that count, said Ms Middlehurst, from body language to non-verbal cues and facial expressions.

“It’s right down to the, 'Why is she wearing those earrings again? Doesn’t he realise he’s got dandruff?’,” she said.

“Once a politician understands that, it’s less of shock to learn that the building of a reputation rests on some fairly horrendous figures which shock everyone I train … It’s 70 per cent what you look like, 20 per cent how you sound and 10 per cent what you say. So it's 90 per cent optics.”

Liz Truss speaks to the media during a visit to the Empire State Building in New York. AP

Ms Truss, she insists, needs to make a rapid and major wardrobe change to avoid seeming merely ministerial.

“It’s clear she hasn't made the change, optics-wise, from minister to prime minister. She could be forgiven for using the relatively smart but a little old-fashioned bodycon dresses her stylist has thus far favoured, along with the chunky jewellery, for her previous ministerial duties,” said Ms Middlehurst.

“What she hasn’t done yet is reinvent herself from ministerial to prime ministerial level, heralding her lift in importance. There needs to be a line drawn in the sand, 'that's the old me', to her fully fledged state now as PM.”

Political weather change

Speeches rarely have the impact that their protagonists want. Only three in the last five decades have had the resonance to boost the speaker’s political fortunes, suggested Mr Taylor.

“In my entire lifetime of watching political speeches, I can only remember three that actually changed the political weather, and boy, does Truss need to change the political weather.”

In 1980, with Britain in another financial storm, Margaret Thatcher steadfastly refused to reverse her liberalising economic policies — later known as Thatcherism — by telling conference: “The lady’s not for turning.”

“There was a lot of pressure on her to make a U-turn in that speech but she changed the narrative because people knew she was going to stick with it for good or for ill,” he said.

Margaret Thatcher in 1986 and Liz Truss in 2021. AP

Ms Truss, who idolises Thatcher’s policies, may well seek to repeat that feat.

The late prime minister’s opponent of many years, Labour’s Neil Kinnock, came close to gaining power after he smashed the hard left using his 1985 conference speech to kill off the socialist Militant faction in the party. The Trotskyists had been subverting Labour’s goals, especially in their domination of the Liverpool council.

Mr Kinnock harangued their economic incompetence, which he said led Militant leaders to “hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers”.

David Cameron managed to tweak history with his 2007 performance. Talking without notes, he taunted Gordon Brown, the new Labour prime minister, with the goad: “Why don't you go ahead and call that election. Let the people decide.”

Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons in London, addressing Parliament for the first time since abandoning her disastrous tax-slashing economic policies. Here, 'The National' looks at her time in power so far. AFP

Liz Truss speaks to Grant Shapps at Downing Street as he is appointed Home Secretary, after the resignation of Suella Braverman. Photo: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

A mural by artist Ciaran Gallagher in Belfast is updated to reflect Liz Truss's current political troubles. PA

Britain's new Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announcing tax and spending measures at the House of Commons in London, with Liz Truss sitting on the bench behind him. AFP

Liz Truss gives a speech after sacking Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor of the exchequer. Reuters

A protest by climate change group Extinction Rebellion in central London. Ms Truss has said the group is part of an 'anti-growth coalition' with trade unions and the main opposition Labour Party. AFP

Ms Truss has come under increasing pressure during her short time as prime minister. AFP

An Extinction Rebellion protest outside Downing Street on the day Mr Kwarteng was removed from the government. AP

Ms Truss with members of the England women's football team and the European Championship trophy in Teddington, south-west London. Getty

Ms Truss arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community at Prague Castle in the Czech Republic. AP

Ms Truss and her husband Hugh O'Leary wave after her keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. AP

Liz Truss gives a speech at the Conservative Party Conference. EPA

Ms Truss meets with Mr Kwarteng, chancellor of the exchequer at the time. Photo: Andrew Parsons / CCHQ

Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham. AFP

Ms Truss meets US President Joe Biden for talks at the UN headquarters in New York. PA

Ms Truss delivers a speech at the 77th session of the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York. AP

The British prime minister holds a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York. Reuters

Ms Truss meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN headquarters in New York. Reuters

Ms Truss speaks to the media during her visit to the Empire State building in New York. AP

Britain's new leader speaks during the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey, London. PA

Ms Truss and her husband Hugh O'Leary observe a minute's silence at Number 10 Downing Street following the death of the queen. Reuters

Britain's Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Truss leave after a service for the reception of Queen Elizabeth's coffin at Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster. AFP

Ms Truss joins the Speaker Lindsay Hoyle and selected MPs to take the oath and swear allegiance to King Charles III in the House of Commons chamber. PA

King Charles during his first audience with Ms Truss at Buckingham Palace, London, following the death of Queen Elizabeth. Getty Images

Ms Truss gives a reading during a service of prayer and reflection, following the passing of Queen Elizabeth, at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Getty Images

The British prime minister makes a statement outside 10 Downing Street in London following the queen's death. Bloomberg

Ms Truss speaking during her first weekly Prime Minister's Questions session at the House of Commons in London. AFP

Front pages of a selection of British national newspapers, each leading with a story about Ms Truss becoming Britain's new prime minister. AFP

People walk past an image in central London of Ms Truss on the side of a protest bus calling for a citizens' assembly. Reuters

Ms Truss holds her first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street. Reuters

Ms Truss speaks at Downing Street on the day she took over as prime minister from Boris Johnson. EPA

Ms Truss poses with her husband Hugh O'Leary at Downing Street before entering as prime minister for the first time. EPA

Ms Truss is welcomed by staff in Downing Street as she enters the famous prime ministerial offices for the first time. Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

New Health Secretary Therese Coffey and Number 10 staff shelter from a downpour as they wait for Ms Truss to arrive in Downing Street. PA

Liz Truss makes a speech outside 10 Downing Street, London, after meeting Queen Elizabeth II and accepting her invitation to become prime minister and form a new government. PA

Queen Elizabeth II greets the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, Ms Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The queen invited Ms Truss to become prime minister and form a new government. Getty Images

Like Ms Truss, Mr Brown had taken office on his predecessor Mr Blair’s electoral mandate and came very close to calling an election. But his nerve failed and Mr Cameron came to power three years later.

“What united those three speeches, was not just the words or the setting, it was the drama of the moment,” Mr Taylor said.

“In ‘the lady's not for turning’, you could almost hear the respect in the hall. So Liz Truss needs to come up with something special.”

Memory or autocue?

Given the pressure, how should she deliver those words? Mr Cameron’s relaxed style came from his ability to memorise vast tracts to speak without notes. Most politicians use autocue, with the words mounted on screens hidden from public view, and a few use notes.

Unfortunately, Ms Truss has a reputation for “robotic” delivery.

“The tools she's got as a public performer are so terrible that she might struggle,” said Mr Taylor. “She should consider all possible options to deliver this speech in a memorable way.

New Conservative Party leader and Britain's Prime Minister-elect Liz Truss delivers a speech after being announced the winner of the Tory Party leadership contest in central London on September 5, 2022. Ms Truss is the UK's third female prime minister following Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher. AFP

Liz Truss during a hustings event in Darlington in August 2022. Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak are awaiting the results of a poll of Conservative Party members deciding which of them has been selected as the new party leader, and next prime minister. PA

Liz Truss playing pool during a visit to the Onside Future Youth Zone in London in August 2022. PA

Boris Johnson and Ms Truss arriving for an extraordinary summit at Nato headquarters in Brussels, in March 2022. AFP

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ms Truss arrive for talks in Moscow in February 2022. AP

Ms Truss in Red Square during a visit to Moscow in February 2022. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Ms Truss meeting European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic (not seen) for talks in central London on the Northern Ireland Protocol on 11th February 2022. PA

Ms Truss with Marise Payne, the Australian minister of foreign affairs, at Government House in Sydney, Australia, in January 2022. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Liz Truss hosts Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic at Chevening House in January 2022 to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Ms Truss visits British troops in Estonia as they operate alongside other Nato troops in Tapa in November 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Liz Truss walks through the old town in Tallinn, Estonia, in November 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Ms Truss greeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, in November 2021. PA

Ms Truss at the Red Fort in New Delhi during a trip to India in October 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

The British foreign secretary on the Plaza de la Constitucion in Mexico City, during a trip to Mexico in September 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Queen Elizabeth II greeting Ms Truss at a reception for international business and investment leaders at Windsor Castle in October 2021. PA

Liz Truss with Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, in New York, in September 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Ms Truss on a morning jog over Brooklyn Bridge in New York in September 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Former Chancellor Philip Hammond, centre, holding his red ministerial box outside 11, Downing Street, flanked by Treasury colleagues Ms Truss and Mel Stride in October 2018. PA

Ms Truss, then secretary of state for justice, being escorted around HMP Brixton by prison governor David Bamford in November 2016. PA

Ms Truss as she became the first woman ever to hold the role of Lord Chancellor, arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice before being installed in July 2016. PA

In April 2016, the former environment secretary Liz Truss listening to former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne (not seen) during his speech at the National Composites Centre in Bristol. PA

When she was environment minister, Ms Truss visited the bridge over the River Wharfe in Tadcaster, which collapsed after heavy flooding in December 2015. Getty Images

Addressing the Conservative party conference in Birmingham in 2014 when she was secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs. Getty Images

Mr Truss on the Sawnnington Farm to Fork stand at the Norfolk Food Festival at the Houses Of Parliament in October 2011. PA

Conservative Parliamentary candidate for South-West Norfolk Elizabeth Truss, while canvassing in the village of West Walton during the 2010 General Election campaign. PA

The former Conservative Shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve, centre, speaking at the launch Reform's Lawful Society report on the nature of crime and the incentives in the criminal justice system while Ms Truss looks on, in September 2008. PA

Former Conservative Leader William Hague meeting conservative candidate for Calder valley Ms Truss, during the General Election Campaign for 2005. PA

“If she can get the hang of autocue, take coaching and practise like crazy, then that would be my preferred option because anything else could lead to disaster.”

Ms Truss does come across as “honest” when she speaks publicly, argued Ms Middlehurst.

“She can be a little robotic and unrelatable, parroting sound bites which even a bloke in a pub can spot by a country mile. Truss would do well to be more authentic, after all she's a mum, and I would make more of that, of her two daughters, which would make her supremely relatable.”

Wednesday 8am

With only a few hours to go before the big moment, Ms Middlehurst had some last-minute advice on how best to use the time left.

“Go out for a run in the morning, stretch. Drink a pint of water — your brain is 90 per cent water and sip it over a half of an hour before you go on stage,” she said.

“Rehearse your speech once, then let it go. Then, before you go onstage, have a nip of brandy just to relax the top 10 per cent of your nerves. You'll look good, sound good and people will be able to hear what you have to say.”