Mission impossible?

When it all began, more than seven weeks ago, with Liz Truss declaring at her campaign launch that she would “be ready to be prime minister from day one”, it didn’t look remotely likely that such an arrival in No 10 would ever come to pass.

The “Liz for leader” launch was amateurish and chaotic. The foreign secretary stumbled over her words, at one point mentioning “Putin’s appalling war in Ru … Ukraine”. Afterwards, she couldn’t find her way out of the room, and headed for a window.

While the contest was focused in Westminster it all seemed an unequal struggle. Rishi Sunak topped the ballot of Tory MPs at every stage. Truss was criticised for lacking polish and appeal, and for sounding wooden. Backing