Opinions: Truss or Sunak?

[curiousitygotthebetterofme]

Apologies if there is already a thread on this! But I just want to see what you people think.

So we now know it’s down to Truss or Sunak, anyone have any idea as to who you think it might be in the final?

I had thought it may be Sunak, but then I read something that says the odds are actually in Liz Truss’ favour?

I hope it’s Truss tbh.

Thoughts?

It’s not about what you care about at the next election @TullyApplebottom . It’s about what the electorate cares about and I’ll bet my house it won’t be trans issues.

Not so. Bizarrely people are much more likely to vote conservative in times of recession and hardship. If finances are good, Labour sometimes but rarely gets in. In hard times it's conservatives

I was reading some polling data a week or so ago and trans issues are way, way down there on the list of things that people are concerned about. I know on MN it's very much the hot issue, but that's just not the case with the wider electorate. Opinium polled 500 Tory party members a fortnight ago and cost of living was the main concern for something like 40% of people, followed by channel crossings, Ukraine, unemployment. Those were the main ones I think. Only 4% of those Tory members cited trans issues as a major concern.

I don't understand truss saying she will immediately roll back the ni ?

I am on nmw and will get a small uplift from that and then from threshold raised of ni.

I don't want that rolled back??

People don't get this trans thing yet.

It will eventually seep through and become a burning issue.

I know Truss from uni. No...

People don't care about the bloody trans thing, there's a million more things coming down to worry about than that shite.

Oh say more, @Cherryblossoms85 !

Wasn't it Truss who said something that goaded Putin into raising the level of nuclear alert? I think he or his henchman explicitly named her.

My very real fear is that she won't!

Our political scene is so fucking abysmal she might actually become the best of a shite awful bunch!

I don't understand how inflation won't be far worse under Truss, what else will tax cuts achieve? Who will get tax cuts : oh yes, that's right, large corporations, who will use the gains to invest outside UK. WTAF.

... and don't get me started on "free west end tickets", bowling and golf discounts, Amazon music and "£1 kids supermarket cafe meals" to help the cost of living crisis. As if people on a very tight budget would contemplate any of those expenditures !!

I suspect that's what many are banking on.

However cost of living is a global issue at the moment. There is bugger all any of them can promise that will make much of a standalone difference.

"Trans Issues" more properly named WOMEN'S RIGHTS, affect 50+% of the population, electorate etc. Enough of us are fully aware of the wide ranging negative affects the derogation of these rights will have. Far, far more insidious and deadly than any of the financial issues society faces in cycles.

That and it is perfectly possible to work towards both. It isn't an either / or scenario. So we need someone who believes in both retaining single sex rights and working on the financial burden. And many other 'things' besides.

Starmer fails on at least one of those...

@FlosCampi Not really that much to say, other than she was the last person anyone could've seen become a Tory politician. She was not remotely right wing, and whilst I think that's a good thing, it's also very unclear what motivated her to go into politics. It seems like a game to her, and I guess I don't like that. Her most recent performances rather strangely betray no hint of her undoubted intelligence, whcih is almost worse - it means she has the arrogance of intelligence, without recognising that nobody can know all the details. She is not picking out the important details. Walking into a Russian trap like that was a typical Oxford mistake - I wing it, because I'm clever enough, and don't consider that my opponent is literally trying to catch me out. Same with taxes - sounds great, growth will fix it, someone else can figure out exactly how that's going to work. Aka I'll just go to my tute with a half-written essay and talk a great game, got three years to actually do the work for finals. That is not what I want in a PM. She's Boris lite. Having said all that, the only thing Rishi has going for him is fiscal prudence. They're both terrible choices.

It’s a bit like the South Park election between the giant douche and the turd sandwich…

I agree that trans issues are a character test. I think the next few years will be very challenging and it won't be possible to create some kind of progressive utopia where everyone gets what they want. Someone who is able to base their decisions in material reality and not idealism or social pressure is a very good trait. Both candidates are sensible but it counts in Truss' favour that she was paying attention "before it was cool".

I'm a party member and still deciding who I will vote for. It's very hard for me to vote for Sunak - the nondom/green card issue is all but a deal-breaker for me and I find it hard to trust him. OTOH Truss - I like her and think she is very experienced, and I appreciate her free market instincts and the types of trade deals she wants to set up. Her tough-talking stance on Russia worries me a little, but I've been actively avoiding Ukraine news for a while for my sanity so I may pick it up again just to see if I'm wrong.

They are both Torys, enough said!

"Trans Issues" more properly named WOMEN'S RIGHTS, affect 50+% of the population, electorate etc. Enough of us are fully aware of the wide ranging negative affects the derogation of these rights will have. Far, far more insidious and deadly than any of the financial issues society faces in cycles.

Interesting that it doesn't feature particularly prominently in any polling then.

People who are Extremely Online overestimate how important it is to the wider public.

It is depressing that Sunak and Truss are the two best options Tory MPs can come up with (and I say that as a previous Conservative voter.) I was hoping for Tugendhat.

That said I would marginally prefer Sunak over Truss because I think he would install a better cabinet and have more credible, competent people beneath him. Liz Truss is just Boris in a dress and although I do respect her work on Women's Rights, that's about all I respect her for and I shudder at the thought of Rees-Mogg and Dorries being in her cabinet.

I shudder at the thought of Rees-Mogg and Dorries being in her cabinet.

Exactly. You can judge a person’s character by the company they keep.

They’re both utterly dreadful options so it really doesn’t matter.

It's like asking if you'd prefer sickness or diarrhoea.

If nothing else we'll get a laugh out of Truss.
They're both awful human beings but Truss is on another planet.

I’m really hoping she’ll promise something so right wing no sane person would ever consider it in the next few weeks.

Sunak. He understands high finance and has stuck to his position on tax in spite of the pressure on him.
Saying that, I don' t really know Truss.Maybe the campaign will change my mind.

He is also stinking rich and wouldn’t know what it is like to live a normal life. He has nothing in common with the ordinary person. Not to mention his involvement in partygate.