Liz Truss and husband’s body language laid bare as new Prime Minister poses on Downing Street doorstep for first time
LIZ Truss showed “steely determination to get on with the job” while posing for pictures outside Number 10 as Britain’s new Prime Minister last night, a body language expert has said.
Judi James reckons Boris Johnson‘s replacement looked like a “firm headteacher” on the Downing Street steps, before displaying her “maturity” as she looped her arm around her husband Hugh O’Leary.
She said the couple, who have been married for 22 years, demonstrated “the kind of mature relationship signals that were lacking from newlyweds Boris and Carrie”.
But their “performed smiles” were “rather tense and rigid” as they carried out their choreographed walk through the front door, she added.
Author Judi, who analysed the behaviour of Ms Truss, who yesterday won 57 per cent of the vote against rival Rishi Sunak, on her first night in office, said: “If Boris left in a heavenly ray of sunshine, Liz arrived to a street soggy with rain.
“Her walk registered a steely determination though and, as she opened her folder out on the lectern, her cheeks rounded with pride and her lips pursed in a gesture of headteacher-ish firmness as she paused to look about at the crowd.”
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During her speech, Ms Truss vowed to take action on crippling energy bills, insisting we could “ride out the storm”.
The new Tory leader also boldly promised to “transform Britain into an aspiration nation”.
But Judi said her address, while “collaborative” and straightforward, lacked “drama or spontaneity”.
“This was illustrated by the way she had to read ‘good afternoon’ from her notes, suggesting nervousness about veering into any hint of off-the-cuff communication,” she said.
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Ms Truss did, however, keep things “waffle-free” and kept her body language “simple” – “just a slight splay of the feet and the same from her hands when they opened and held onto the outsides of the lectern”, Judi added.
“In a Margaret Thatcher-like ritual, she pitched her eye-gaze high to suggest a feel for destiny and global horizons.
“Her speech was collaborative, with constant use of the word ‘we’ to suggest this was a journey we would all be expected to be going on, although she switched to the ‘I’ in a gesture or reassurance towards the end.”
But overall Judi said her movements, and her speedy dash through the door of No10 after speaking, indicated Ms Truss is “a woman keen to get on with the job”.
Ms Truss, who received 81,326 votes to Mr Sunak’s 60,399, was officially named PM yesterday.
BoJo delivered a farewell speech before the pair travelled to see the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where he offered his resignation.
Ms Truss then had a private audience with Her Majesty, who formally appointed her as the new PM.
After that, the Tory leader flew back to London to make her first major speech from Downing Street, before posing for photos with her husband.
She has promoted her closest allies to top Cabinet jobs – and culled supporters of Mr Sunak.
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Among her new team, she named loyal pal Kwasi Kwarteng as her Chancellor, tasked with tackling the raging energy crisis battering Brits.
And Suella Braverman – a one-time leadership candidate – is the new Home Secretary after being promoted from Attorney General.