Liz Truss quits: UK will pay a heavy price for four terrible Tory Prime Ministers – Susan Dalgety

Most people do not want to become Prime Minister. Even the vast majority of Members of Parliament do not harbour a secret ambition to live at Number 10, preferring instead the relative comfort of the back benches, where non-entities can comfortably hide for decades.

But for some individuals, becoming an MP, with its personal status, gold-plated pension and subsidised bars, is not enough. A Cabinet post is better, but even Home Secretary or Chancellor cannot sate their monstrous ambition. They will not be content until they are top dog, First Lord of the Treasury, she who must be obeyed.

Gordon Brown was one such creature. A brilliant man, believed by many to be the soul of the Labour Party, he spent most of his eight years as Chancellor under Tony Blair plotting to take over the top job. He succeeded in the end, yet within weeks it was clear that he was floundering.

He had spent so much political energy on securing his ambition, he had none left for the actual job. He may want to be remembered as the man who saved the global economy from total meltdown after the great crash of 2008, but in all likelihood, he will go down in history as a dour and brooding Prime Minister who never won a general election. His lasting achievements were all at the Treasury.

But compared to the motley collection of charlatans that has occupied Number 10 since Gordon Brown lost the 2010 general election, he was as towering a figure as Churchill or Attlee. It is depressing just to list them.

David Cameron, the man who carelessly sub-contracted his EU policy to the voters because he couldn’t be bothered managing the sceptics within his own party.

Theresa May, who, like Brown, had harboured ambitions for the premiership most of her adult life, simply did not have the charisma or leadership skills to secure a decent Brexit settlement. She tried, oh how she tried, but in the end, her personal qualities were simply not enough to lead the country – or her party.

Boris Johnson. Just typing his name is enough to bring me out in a cold sweat, or a hot rage. He may be the most amoral, unfit person to have run this country for a century. Yet within hours of Liz Truss resigning, around 50 Tory MPs had endorsed him as the next Prime Minister. He has not yet ruled out trying to make a comeback.

Outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss, with her predecessor and possible successor Boris Johnson (Picture: Henry Nicholls/pool/Getty Images)

Then there was Truss. Her only qualification for the top job was her unedifying ambition. As former Tory MP turned commentator Matthew Parris wrote only a few weeks ago, “She’s crackers. It isn’t going to work.” He was right. It didn’t work, which is why we now face the prospect of our sixth Prime Minister in 12 years.

If the new Prime Minster, whoever it is, had a shred of integrity, their first act would be to call a general election. Let the people, not Tory MPs, decide who should run the country. But of course they won’t. Their personal ambition and their party’s position matter far more to them than good governance. The people may be disgusted by their antics – one recent poll shows the Tories at 14 per cent, compared to Labour’s 53 per cent – but the Tory soap opera rolls on, each episode more unbelievable than the last.

The last truly competent Prime Minister this country had was Blair. His decision to support George W Bush’s Iraq folly may have proved the wrong one, but that should not detract from his many achievements, nor his suitability for the top job.

Over the years, political scientists have tried to define the qualities needed for great leadership, from an ability to take decisions, often quickly, to being able to inspire trust and confidence in your colleagues and the electorate. Good Prime Ministers need to be able to see the big picture, and not get bogged down in whatever nonsense backbench MPs or the tabloid press are up to. They need a vision for the country, but enough humility to change tack when circumstances change, as they invariably will.

And an effective Prime Minister must have an air of authority. It is all very well being a team player, but the buck stops on your desk. Always. Love him or hate him, Blair had all of those qualities and more. He is only 69, ten years younger than US President Joe Biden. He hasn’t stopped thinking about how to build a better country just because he is no longer Prime Minister. His think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, regularly publishes policy papers on how Britain should cope with the challenges that lie ahead.

He always understood, and still does, that you cannot govern for one interest group alone, whether that is bankers or trade unions. You must govern from the centre, for all the people.

Of course Blair, unlike the shameless Johnson, is not considering a comeback. If the opinion polls hold true, Sir Keir Starmer will be the next Labour Prime Minister. He may not have the charisma of Blair, or Brown’s sentimental sway over party members, but he is head and shoulders above Johnson, Sunak, Mordaunt or whoever the Tories choose to be their next lame duck Prime Minister.

Starmer is a serious man. A former Director of Public Prosecutions, he will bring authority and gravitas to the role of Prime Minister. But, no matter how suitable he is for the role, it will take our country decades to recover from the chaos wreaked by a succession of Tory wannabees. And they are not finished yet.