Liz Truss: Norfolk constituents say prime minister was not up to the job

Liz Truss has become the shortest serving prime minister in British history. What do the South West Norfolk MP's constituents make of her 45-day stint as PM?

Elected to parliament in 2010, Ms Truss became leader of both the Conservative Party and the country on 5 September following a leadership race.

Her resignation has now triggered the second Tory leadership election in four months.

Ms Truss said her successor would be elected by next week after a rebellion by Tory MPs forced her to quit.

Butcher John Goddard runs his family shop in Downham Market.

A Conservative voter, he says he did not think Truss was "strong enough" to be prime minister.

"I'm not happy she's stood down because it's going to throw us into turmoil," says Mr Goddard. "I don't know what the Conservatives are going to do. I don't know if they're going to bring someone in temporarily or if we're going to have a general election. "

Having met the Prime Minister many times over the years in her role as a constituency MP, Mr Goddard says he never thought she would make a good prime minister.

"She was not up to the job as prime minister but she was good at the other things she's done," Mr Goddard says. "But she was not strong enough to be prime minister."

With the "state of the country at the moment", Mr Goddard says weeks of political campaigning for a general election would bring into question who was actually running the government.

"We can't afford to not have a government", he says.

Mr Goddard says he supports a comeback by Boris Johnson, who quit as Prime Minister in July following the wave of resignations from his government.

Tomas Davis-Kent, 36, is a fashion designer and says when he has been abroad for work, people have been consoling him and ridiculing the state of government in the UK.

He says Ms Truss came across as someone who "did anything for power" but had no concrete political ideals to back her up.

"I feel like she just did anything for power, I think she moved politically so much on such big viewpoints. She tried to play that she was a strong powerful character with ideals, but she didn't.

"I went to Paris fashion week and we're ridiculed there. People say 'Oh I'm sorry', it is awful."

He wants to see a general election saying the Conservatives no longer have a mandate to govern and politics is "looking rather desperate and sad".

Dr Akin Obisanya has lived in Downham Market for more than 20 years but says he and his family have never had much reason to believe in Ms Truss during her tenure as a constituency MP.

"We never saw her here," he says. "She promised she would change the railway station in Downham Market but we never saw anything."

Ms Truss appeared to be "playing politics", he says.

Dr Obisanya says her economic promises of spending more, at a time when it was clear there was no money, did not inspire confidence.

"Anyone with any sense knew you couldn't be spending more when you don't have money."

Stephen and Carolyn Hayes did not vote for Ms Truss and want to see a general election held.

Mr Hayes says he is "not disappointed" that the prime minister is going.

"I don't agree with Tory policy and I think Liz Truss has made a complete mess of everything, even for a Tory," he says.

Mrs Hayes says she is actually "quite surprised" that Ms Truss had stood down so quickly, even though she had been hoping she would.

"She's been terrible for the country but it's going to continue with the Conservatives unless we have a general election," she says.

Despite being a Conservative voter, Jenny Ives says she is no fan of Ms Truss.

"I have always voted Conservative but I didn't vote for her, let's put it that way," she says.

Ms Ives claims her MP has "done nothing for the town".

"She couldn't even sort out an argument between stall holders and the town council. If she couldn't sort that out, how was she going to sort out the whole country?

"I just thought she's not up to the job," Ms Ives says. "She's always been a bit of a 'yes' person in the background and climbed her way up that way, but actually [she] didn't have the backbone to carry it forward."

Looking to the future, Ms Ives wants to see Boris Johnson back in power but says she feels that is unlikely to happen.

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