Liz Truss, the front-runner to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, was compelled to retract one of her most eye-catching promises a day after making it after receiving criticism from other Conservatives and opposition parties.
In the first major gaffe of her campaign, Truss pledged to reduce government spending by billions of pounds annually, which opponents claimed would necessitate slashing the wages of public sector employees, such as nurses and teachers, outside of the prosperous southeast of England.
Truss responded to Tuesday’s criticism by saying, “I had no intention of modifying the conditions of employment of nurses and teachers.
But I want to make it obvious that I won’t be continuing with the regional pay boards.A poll revealed that Truss had a narrower lead against Rishi Sunak as previously believed, prompting the U-turn.
According to an Italian data company Techne survey of 807 Conservative Party members conducted between July 19 and 27, Truss had the support of 48 percent of respondents compared to 43 percent for former finance minister Sunak.
The outcome indicates a considerably closer contest than the one indicated by a recent YouGov survey of Conservative members conducted on July 20–21, which provided Truss a 24-point edge over Sunak.
