Downing Street on a Saturday morning is a busy place. Locals head out for brunch while visitors peruse the gift shops… to clarify, this is Downing Street in Farnham, Surrey.
But away from Westminster, the political turmoil is very much being felt in the centre of this picturesque market town.
I paid a visit to Smallbone & Sons, a butcher’s shop run by brothers Richard and Steve Lamport. They are happy to discuss Liz Truss‘s premiership with me as customers arrive to pick up their orders (chicken is the most popular today).
“Bring back Boris I reckon,” Steve Lamport tells me, chuckling.
His expression becomes serious though as he predicts what will happen to the Conservatives if Ms Truss remains prime minister.
“If they stay as they are they’re doomed and Labour will just get in and we’ll go back to where we were.”
The brothers have always voted Conservative. While they could tolerate the scandals that plagued the end of Boris Johnson’s tenure, the financial chaos caused by the recent mini-budget makes Ms Truss, in their opinion, unfit to lead the country.
Richard Lamport is seriously worried about what is going to happen to his butcher’s shop if inflation continues to rise.
“I think there’ll be a lot of similar places to this that are going to go under in the end, I can’t see them surviving, including myself,” he tells me.
The Lamports feel it’s not just Ms Truss’s policies that are the problem, it’s also her TV performances.
“I find it hard to watch them to be honest with you, I just find her annoying the way she comes across,” says Richard Lamport.
But despite their personal feelings about the prime minister and fears for their business, the brothers would still vote Conservative at the next election, worried a Labour government would spell an even worse economic fate.
The Lamport’s delivery driver, Jonathan Durham, used to be a greengrocer with a shop a few doors down on Downing Street. He says their local MP, Jeremy Hunt, used to be a regular customer in his shop.
Mr Durham predicts Mr Hunt could become prime minister if Ms Truss goes, but he doesn’t appear overly enthusiastic about the new chancellor.
“Time will tell, but hopefully he’s a bit more down to earth,” says Mr Durham, comparing Mr Hunt to Kwasi Kwarteng.
He adds that Mr Hunt was always “very nice” when he came into the grocers.
Like the Lamports, Mr Durham feels a Conservative government would still be “better than the other lot,” by whom he means the Labour Party.
Away from the bustle of Downing Street, I meet with some local Conservative councillors. Both have worked with Mr Hunt throughout his time as MP and are extremely positive about the chancellor.
“He is an immensely able man and I’ve got no doubt that he will work well with Liz Truss and I think he’ll work with others. He will understand the markets, he’ll know what has to be done and he’ll do the right thing quickly,” says Peter Martin.
Read more:
Mistakes in mini-budget – and some taxes will go up, Hunt says
‘Grotesque chaos’: Starmer hits out at Truss
Conservative councillor Peter Martin says Jeremy Hunt is an ‘immensely able man’
His fellow councillor, Carole Cockburn, agrees that Mr Hunt is a safe pair of hands.
“The issue at the moment is the uncertainty and the panic really that a lot of industry but also residents are feeling,” says Ms Cockburn.
Conservative councillor Carole Cockburn agrees Jeremy Hunt is a safe pair of hands
Both she and Mr Martin think Ms Truss needs more time to prove herself as PM, although they are realistic about her current unpopularity.
“If we had an election tomorrow I wouldn’t want to go the count,” says Ms Cockburn, laughing nervously.
