As Liz Truss stood in Downing Street today to announce her resignation she stood alongside her supportive husband.
Ms Truss has been married to husband Hugh O'Leary for 20 years, and as he delivered her final speech as Prime Minister, he could be seen looking on from the sidelines. Her resignation came after just 44 days in No 10 - making her Britain's shortest-serving Prime Minister ever. The Tory leader announced her resignation after weeks of turmoil in Downing Street and furious backbench MPs expressing no confidence. And according to a body language expert, Judi James, it was clear to see Mr O'Leary's concern for his wife during her speech - but she didn't seem to acknowledge him.
She told the Mirror: "Her husband, whose name we have barely had to learn, displayed some concern.
"Exiting behind her and posing to one side his rigid, penguin-like arm pose suggested the tension about and concern for his wife.
"Walking back into No 10 there were no glances or nods to her husband who followed her in dutifully with his head slightly bowed like a man at a funeral."
Ms Truss and husband Mr O'Leary first met back in 1997 during a Tory party conference.
Truss spoke of the day they met in an interview with You magazine in 2019, saying: “I invited him ice-skating and he sprained his ankle.”
They married three years later in 2000 though their marriage hasn’t been plain sailing after an affair rocked the relationship - though they managed to ride out the storm.
Meanwhile, Judi also noted that during her resignation speech today, that despite putting on a display of "bravado" as she quit - Ms Truss also performed another gesture hinted that she thought the "whole turn of events has been a joke".
"When she got to the phrase ‘I was elected PM’ a slight smile began to appear, as though signalling pride at the thought.
"That smile began to look bigger but also mirthless when she announced she was resigning and name-checked Graham Brady.
"It looked almost as though she was laughing inwardly at the thought and even sharing that laugh with the public.
"When she said she would remain as PM for the next week the sickly smile became a small chuckle that was audible. It was as though she thinks the whole turn of events has been a joke and not a funny one."
"Truss’s brief resignation speech was primarily delivered with a mask of what I assume should have been bravado, plus some micro-leakage that hinted at suppressed anger and shock.
"Her bouncing walk as she left the now revolving door of No 10 was similar to the ‘bravery’ bounce she performed when she arrived in the Commons on Monday to sit like a waxwork beside Hunt. It was a counter-intuitive display aimed at suggesting everything in Truss-land was still fine.
"Truss showed some micro-gestures of possible anger at the start of her speech when she referred to the slow economic growth she inherited and to Putin. Despite her drained-looking face, there was a lift of one side of her upper lip and a slight sneer around one nostril."
