LIZ Truss appeared to get lost while trying to find the exit from her own leadership launch, video footage shows.
The Foreign Secretary officially kicked off her campaign on Thursday morning by pledging to “govern as a Conservative”.
At the end of the event instead of walking out of the door which was visible to the right of the stage, Truss walked directly into the crowd of reporters and had to be pulled away by one of her staffers.
It had been thought for months prior to Boris Johnson’s resignation that Truss was looking to take on the top job.
She opened her speech with a clear message: “We are at a critical moment for our country.”
“Now is the time to be bold, we cannot have business-as-usual economic management, which has led to low growth for decades.”
To shouts of “hear, hear”, she said that it was time to deliver on Brexit and “win the fight for freedom, at home and abroad”.
But Truss was quizzed over why she had failed to quit Johnson’s Cabinet, despite dozens of ministers doing so last week.
She insisted she was loyal to the interim Prime Minister.
“I am a loyal person. I am loyal to Boris Johnson. I supported our Prime Minister’s aspirations.”
However, while she promised to continue the Government’s levelling-up ambitions, she also pledge a change of tack on the economy and to reverse the planned rise in National Insurance.
Truss dodged questions about worries she could be outflanked by rival Penny Mordaunt, instead stressing the wide array of talent the leadership contest is displaying.
As of Wednesday Truss was in third place among the leadership hopefuls.
Mordaunt’s strong performance saw her claim 67 votes, 17 more than Truss, with Sunak picking up the support of 88 MPs.
