A poll showed that less than 20% of Brits believe that a government led by Liz Truss is capable of dealing with the cost of living crisis that has plagued the country since 2021.

YouGov, a British data analytics and market research company conducted a poll immediately after Truss was elected as the Conservative Party leader on September 5. The results showed that two-third of votes, roughly 67% had no confidence in the former Foreign Secretary’s ability to tackle inflation, cost of living increase and energy bill hikes. Conservative voters made up 54% of those who voted.

Just 14% of voters believed that Truss will be able to do better than her predecessor Boris Johnson. Additionally, 50% of voters said that they weren’t happy with the Conservative Party’s pick for who would be entering Number 10 Downing Street. 33% of them were Tory voters.

A separate poll by Savanta ComRes, another British marketing research consultancy, revealed that 51% of voters across the nation believed that she would not be able to unite the country. Further, 61% of voters said that they wanted to see a general election held this year, after news of Truss’ victory broke. 

Rocketing costs of energy bills and the recently increased price cap on households by the Office of Gas and Electric Markets is going to make the 47-year-old lawmaker’s job even tougher as she seeks to unite an already divided Tory house.

Truss has inherited a hard task for herself. Tories are lagging behind in polls, the National Health Service is teetering dangerously close to the edge and an autumn of strikes seems to almost be upon her. In addition, she must decide how her government will deal with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and how to navigate Brexit in Northern Ireland vis-à-vis the European Union. 

In her victory speech in London upon being elected as the Tory leader, Truss said that she would “deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term.”

There are reports that Truss has been working on a support package to alleviate the stress of energy bills. Several news outlets like the Guardian and the BBC have reported that she will be making an announcement about it on Thursday, September 8, 2022. 

The package might include reverting the 80% hike made by Ofgem in late August and instead settle the price cap at  £1,971 instead of the current £3,549. It is likely that her announcement will include a freeze on energy bills for the next two years.

The move, while the likely solution in the short term, will have taxpayers footing the bill in the next decade with higher energy bills or higher tax later. Alternatively, the government might choose to increase borrowing from lenders as Truss has made clear that would like to avoid making energy companies pay a windfall tax. 

Rumblings about a energy bill freeze first came from the Labour party across the aisle back in October 2021. Flash forward to earlier this year when energy companies suggested a £100 billion package to support the move. Under the proposal, commercial banks would pool money into a state-backed fund which the energy suppliers would draw on to stop charging customers for energy.