Liz Truss isn’t a great orator – does it matter?

Whatever your political convictions, speeches in years gone by from Margaret Thatcher to Neil Kinnock remain utterly unforgettable

Liz Truss once made an unforgettable conference speech. Her 2014 “That. Is. A. Dis-grace!” lecture on apples, pears and cheese was a classic of its kind. Yesterday’s effort was perhaps less memorable – the jury’s out, you might say. The phrase “growth, growth and growth” will no doubt be cited by Truss’s dwindling band of loyal MPs and ministers as evidence of the unifying theme of her premiership.

But what else will you remember today, tomorrow or next month – let alone years in the future?

It’s somehow fitting that one of her MPs and The Spectator’s editor forgot the prime minister’s name in the build-up to and aftermath of yesterday’s conference climax. Because so far, a month into her time in office, Truss is a bit of a blank.

There weren’t any policy announcements in her speech. There was a bit of a backstory, but nothing we didn’t know already, leaving some in her party fearing there’s even less to Truss than meets the eye. She is, perhaps, a product of her time, the era of “manifesting”. She believed firmly she was capable of becoming prime minister, and lo, she entered 10 Downing Street.

Conference speeches used to be spine-tingling moments when party leaders not only roused the faithful but also soared beyond Birmingham, Blackpool, Brighton – wherever – to inspire and persuade. Whatever your political convictions, speeches in years gone by from Margaret Thatcher to Neil Kinnock remain utterly unforgettable. Where are the orators to match them now?

Sir Keir Starmer may have a commanding opinion poll lead, but commanding a room is something that he too appears to struggle with. He’s improved – and his speech last week was his most powerful to date – but even his own MPs admit public speaking isn’t his forte.

For former Labour leaders, rousing a crowd was a superpower. Only this week, people on Twitter were quoting Kinnock’s 1983 campaign speech: “If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday, I warn you not to be ordinary, I warn you not to be young, I warn you not to fall ill, I warn you not to get old.” Will we be reminiscing about Truss’s 2022 essay on growth nearly half a century on? I’m not so sure.

Truss herself paid implicit homage to orators from the last century. Her most memorable line on growth was perhaps a nod to Blair’s “education, education, education”. The “iron grip” on the nation’s finances drew inspiration from her idol, Margaret Thatcher, and “we have no alternative” was surely an echo of Thatcher’s old friend Tina (“There is no alternative”).

The more aides talk up the “Iron Lady” parallels though, the more Truss risks falling short, particularly when it comes to her public presence. Britain’s longest-serving female prime minister used to dominate conference, electrifying the audience, and even now, decades after leaving the stage, her words echo in the ears of those hoping to follow in her footsteps.

There’s an entire book of her speeches. One of them is her 1980 homily to the party conference in Brighton, where she warned those complaining about tax cuts and spending cuts: “To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say. You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.”

Thatcher in 1980 dealt swiftly with hecklers and was warmly applauded by the audience for doing so, just as Truss dispatched the Greenpeace protesters fairly deftly. But there the similarities appear to end.

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Thatcher projected power in what she said and did. Her disciple Truss currently lacks strength in both. There are those who say all Truss had to do – like Sir Keir the week before – was deliver a soundbite for last night’s TV. And there is something to that. Being a brilliant speaker didn’t secure Kinnock a general election, after all.

But it’s hard to think of a successful leader who hasn’t been able to hold a crowd. Fine oratory ultimately matters because it’s a projection of power, and a vehicle to promote both politics and policy. It’s about taking people in the room – and the wider world – with you. It’s about leadership, in short.

If you’re not capable of setting out who you are and what you believe with passion and conviction, are you really capable of leading the country?

Many Conservative MPs who never voted for Truss in the first place have already answered that question. As the others digest yesterday’s test of leadership, they too will come to their own conclusions.

Cathy Newman is the presenter and investigations editor of ‘Channel 4 News’