Liz Truss is in pole position to become the next Prime Minister as the interminable race to succeed Boris Johnson enters its final stretch.
But the brutal battle for the Tory crown pales in comparison to the challenges ahead as Brits brace for a catastrophic hit to living standards this winter.
Today, the energy price cap was confirmed at £3,549 a year, with the eye-watering hikes to bills due to come into effect on October 1.
It comes against a backdrop of interest rate hikes, spiralling inflation and warnings that Britain could plunge into recession by the end of the year.
The cost of living crisis will be the number one issue in the new PM's in-tray and there is intense pressure for more Government help before the price cap rise takes hold.
Ms Truss, the likely next PM, has promised to hold an emergency Budget to slash taxes and set out more support for struggling Brits.
Her spokeswoman said the energy bills hike would cause "grave concern" for Brits and promised she would act "immediately".
She told the Daily Mail she would use an emergency budget next month to "ensure support is on its way to get through these tough times".
But Ms Truss remains tight-lipped on what this might look like. Her team argues it wouldn't be right to unveil her plans until she becomes PM or has seen all the facts.
Here are the times she showed her disdain for "handouts" for struggling Brits.
Truss promises tax cuts not 'handouts'
Earlier this month, Ms Truss argued that tax cuts and economic reform was the way to help families facing spiralling bills this winter.
She told the Financial Times: "Of course I will look at what more can be done. But the way I would do things is in a Conservative way of lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts.”
Rival candidate Rishi Sunak seized on her comments and said it would be wrong to rule out more support.
Truss ally Penny Mordaunt then claimed she'd been misinterpreted.
Truss attacks 'Gordon Brown handouts' and brands crisis summit plan 'bizarre'
The Tory leadership frontrunner criticised pleas from Labour former PM Gordon Brown for "handouts " and claimed crisis talks to deal with the problem would be "bizarre".
Speaking at a hustings in Darlington, Ms Truss said: “We are facing great difficulties with energy.
"I understand people are struggling with their bills on fuel and food but the first thing we should do as Conservatives is help people have more of their own money.
“What I don’t support is taking money off people in tax and then giving it back to them in handouts. That to me is Gordon Brown economics.”
Rishi Sunak said he would be willing to sit down with his rival and Boris Johnson to hammer out emergency support but Ms Truss branded the idea "bizarre".
“We have a Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, we have a Prime Minister, who are in those jobs until September, and I think it would be constitutionally deeply undesirable to try and overrule them with a sort of made-up committee of the CBI, me and Rishi Sunak," she said.
Truss won't 'bung more money' at the problem
On the eve of the price cap announcement, Ms Truss acknowledged that soaring energy bills were a “massive issue”.
But she said the government couldn't “just bung more money into the system”.
Ms Truss told the hustings in Norwich: “What we need is to fix the supply of energy.
"If people think this problem is going to be over in six months they’re not right.”
