Liz Truss is wooden. And it works

Barring a disaster — given her record, that’s not impossible — Liz Truss will soon be the prime minister. She didn’t slip up in last night’s debate. She even surprised observers by showing mental dexterity when being needled by Rishi Sunak. Nevertheless, the adjective most often used to describe her – I’ve seen it in nearly everything I’ve read about her in the last few weeks – is wooden. But is Liz making woodenness her selling point? The loud clap last night after she admitted she lacked presentation skills suggests that she is.

We’re all given a demeanour, and for all the spin doctors and image makers we might employ to buff us up, they can only work with what they’re given. A public figure will always have more than the correct amount of something. Too flippant. Too serious. Too interesting. Too bland. Too relaxed. Too uptight. Nobody is ever, like Baby Bear’s porridge, just right.