Liz Truss blanking Rishi Sunak after being announced Prime Minister suggests tension between the pair is still running high, a body language expert has claimed. The former foreign secretary ' powered past her rival without a glance or nod of recognition' as she took to the stage to deliver her victory speech, said Judi James.
Judi James said it was clear that Sunak's 'boyish bounce' had deserted the Tory MP as Liz Truss won the Tory leadership contest to become the country’s next prime minister. But on stage, she paid tribute to the "hard-fought campaign” against Rishi Sunak as she picked up 57% of valid votes cast, compared to 43% for her rival.
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Judi said: "There was an empty chair between herself and Rishi and although it suggested Boris was a last-minute no-show it might have actually been for Rishi’s wife.
"Rishi’s facial expression was that of a man as gutted as a haddock though and his wife might not have wanted to witness his disappointment. All the boyish bounce had deserted him and the faintest curling of his lip suggested he might be seething inside.
"Either Truss sensed this or she had no intention of being magnanimous in victory, but she powered past her rival without a glance or nod of recognition.
"The expected smile or even hug to show a lack of animosity was absent, leaving the hint hanging in the air that these two really are rivals behind the scenes too."
On stage, Ms Truss's hug for the chairman and her tribute to Boris Johnson created a 'telling contrast', added Judi.
The Foreign Secretary, who will now also replace Mr Johnson in No 10 on Tuesday, claimed the outgoing Prime Minister was "admired from Kyiv to Carlisle”.
Mr Johnson said his successor had "the right plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis” and “unite our party”.
In her victory speech, Ms Truss praised the work done by “my friend” Mr Johnson.
She said: "Boris, you got Brexit done, you crushed Jeremy Corbyn, you rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin.
"You were admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.”
Judi added: "If Rishi is a sore loser Truss looks like a scorched earth winner, leaving the bodies of her foes in her wake without so much as a backward glance.
"Her beam of delight, with her chin tucked in as she gazed fondly at the rest of her audience was quickly replaced by a more sober facial expression as she appeared to square up to the enormity of the task ahead."
