Me, Liz Truss and the biggest showdown since Parkinson vs Emu

Liz Truss in conversation with Tim Stanley at the Conservative Party conference
Liz Truss told Tim Stanley she would have won the election if she had stayed in No 10 - Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph

The queue at conference was a mile long for “Liz Truss in conversation with Tim Stanley”.

They were calling it “this generation’s Frost/Nixon”, though I had a nightmare of it turning into Parkinson vs Emu (which even the late Sir Michael had to admit Emu won).

I was terrified. I’d never done a live TV interview before. I also hadn’t slept.

My hotel room is overheated, the bedding made from loft insulation, and the window bolted shut lest you throw yourself out.

So I lay awake imagining breakfast morning TV chat. Perhaps open with a Holly Willoughby, “Are you OK?” Followed by fashion tips, a spot of Hayek and the dos-and-don’ts for meeting Princess Anne.

“Will she do Bake Off?”, I wrote on a pad, followed by “or Strictly?” I put a line through all that. I’m not Graham Norton.

In the end – and you can watch the full interview below – I think it went well, thanks entirely to Ms Truss. Liz has a philosophy and an analysis.

It’s no struggle to coax them out of her. The Tories made Britain socialist, she volunteered; I’d have won the election if I’d stayed in No 10; Trump should be back in the White House! She owned a million libs in under an hour.

Other ex-PMs go silent on leaving office because, unlike Liz, they have little to say – although Theresa May has let it be known that she thinks the 2022 Budget destroyed the party’s reputation.

What’s that line about throwing stones in glass houses? I’m told candidates have been going in and out of Mrs May’s hotel suite all week, begging her not to endorse them.

Ms Truss has probably never told a lie. By contrast, the leadership candidates feel as if they’re pretending to be something they’re not – neither “wet” nor “generic”.

In the main hall, Kemi Badenoch, posing as a pussy cat, sat down with GB News’s Chris Hope and transformed instantly into a lion held at bay with the flimsiest of chairs.

“How’s it going?”

“It’s going well,” she snapped.

“How would it feel to be the first black leader of the Conservative Party?”

“I don’t know, I’ve not done it yet.”

Chris, one of the best tamers in the business, asked if it’s fair to call her “brittle”? Kemi shot back: “Can you give me an example?” I suspect that the perception she is always on the defensive has forced her on to the offensive, turning the candidate into everything the critics condemn but friends know she really is not.

Kemi Badenoch at the Conservative Party conference
Kemi Badenoch turned from pussy cat to lion held at bay when questioned by GB News - Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph

“People write their story for you,” she explained. They mangle her words, too, including her claim that she became working class when employed at McDonald’s.

I feel working class just walking into McDonald’s – but Kemi’s point was that this occurred when she was fresh from Nigeria and genuinely poor. “The first time I went on a bus was in this country.” After that experience, I’m amazed she stayed.

Back in the hotel, stripped to my socks and covered in wet flannels, I texted colleagues to see if I’ve got a career in television.

“Face for radio,” said Emily M. “You two should’ve got a room,” said Nicky C. Michael Portillo ignored my message, but then he always does.