Liz Truss’s purported lack of charisma and the “disastrous” economic situation facing Britain is the focus for much of the European media following the appointment of the country’s new prime minister. The apparent differences in style between Boris Johnson and his successor was picked up by newspapers and websites across the political spectrum but the conclusions on Truss’s first speech in office were generally generous. Spain’s bestselling newspaper, El País, suggested that during these dark times there might be an argument for dispensing with the frivolity of the short but colourful Johnson years. “A lack of charisma can be a political advantage in times of uncertainty, if it is offset by a message of courage and determination,” the paper opines, noting that this was what Truss had promised on the steps of No 10. The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera emphasises the ominous scale of the challenges ahead. “From the lyric of Boris Johnson to the prose of Liz Truss: the new prime minister of Great Britain presented herself to the nation with a speech devoid of impetus, of catchphrases or cultured quotations, but all focused on the concrete issues to be addressed,” the paper says. “Never in recent history has a new head of government faced such a difficult economic and social situation: inflation is at 13% and could exceed 20, the economy is about to enter recession and millions of people will have to choose this winter whether to eat or heat the house.”
A similar sentiment of cautious welcome tempered with concern for the future was expressed by Belgium’s Le Soir as it took stock of the wet Tuesday afternoon on which Truss was making her first speech. The paper writes: “If the weather was almost like the situation in the country, disastrous, the new head of government showed up confidently and smiling in front of the famous black door.” Of her words, in which Truss had emphasised “delivery” and promised a response to the catastrophic rise in energy bills, it judged them “restrained but convincing”. The French newspaper Le Monde reports that Truss had “promised sunnier days ahead despite the current economic gloom”. However, the paper went on to note that “recent opinion polls suggest a sizeable chunk of the British public have no faith in her ability to tackle the cost-of-living crisis”. The headline on a piece in Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany’s biggest selling papers, was “New prime minister, old problems”. But while the left-leaning Die Tageszeitung is confident Truss’s style would be exploited to the full by British satirists, delighting that the “laughs will continue”, it suggests in a second piece that people may be mistaken in underestimating the new PM. Der Spiegel, the largest German news website, enjoyed the confusion caused by the existence of a Twitter account with the handle @liztruss that belongs to a woman called Liz Trussell. Sweden’s prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, posted a congratulatory tweet to @lizTruss to the response: “Looking forward to a visit soon! Get the meatballs ready.” The new prime minister’s personal Twitter handle is @trussliz. Andersson’s tweet has since been deleted.