Members of the Liz Truss cabinet have rallied round the beleaguered prime minister – but their efforts failed to convince.
On Friday, the plagued mini-budget struck again as the PM sacked her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as she abandoned plans to freeze corporation tax.
A desperate attempt to reset her premiership saw Truss appoint Jeremy Hunt as Kwarteng’s replacement in the Treasury, which was followed by a press conference that was as short as it was unapologetic.
But some in her top team offered support, taking to Twitter to post an infographic with a quotation from the media briefing, where she said: “We will deliver the strong and sustained growth that can transform the prosperity of our country for generations to come.”
Simon Clarke, the levelling up secretary, raised eyebrows when he simply tweeted: “The prime minister has my support.”
It also brought to mind footballer Victor Anichebe’s “tweet something like” classic.
Therese Coffey, Ranil Jayawardena and Jake Berry followed.
But Tom Tugendhat, minister of state for security who attends cabinet, resisted adding a message of support to the graphic – while Kemi Bandenoch resisted adding the graphic to her message of support.
The international trade secretary, who came fourth in the Conservative party leadership contest earlier this year, wrote: “To say it’s been a difficult day would be an understatement. We knew the scale of the challenge this autumn given multiple global headwinds would be unprecedented. Our Prime Minister is working flat out to get the country through these turbulent times. She has my full support.”