A BBC spokesman said: “Liz Truss has canceled her BBC One interview with Nick Robinson, which was due to air this Tuesday evening (August 30) at 7pm. “Mrs Truss’s team say she can no longer spare the time to appear on Our Next Prime Minister. “The other Conservative leadership candidate, Rishi Sunak, was interviewed by Nick on 10 August. “We regret that it was not possible to interview both candidates thoroughly, despite the fact that we agreed to do so.” The winner of the Conservative leadership race – and next prime minister – will be announced on September 5. The contest was sparked after Boris Johnson was ousted by his own MPs following a series of scandals. Foreign Secretary Ms Truss is widely seen as the front-runner for much of the race. The final Tory leadership takeover will take place this Wednesday in London. Earlier on Monday, former Conservative cabinet minister Rory Stewart said Johnson could try to force his way back into power. Mr Stewart – who stood against the prime minister for the Tory leadership in 2019 – told the BBC that Johnson was a “terrible prime minister”. He also likened the prime minister to former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and former US president Donald Trump, who plan to return. Mr Stewart also accused the outgoing prime minister of having “an extraordinary ego” and said Johnson “doesn’t see the reality, which is that he was a terrible prime minister and that he lost his job because of deep character flaws”. “I’m afraid we’ll end up with a second one [Silvio] Berlusconi or a second [Donald] Trump is trying to roll back,” he continued. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 2:25 What’s the state of the Tory leadership race? Meanwhile, the poll suggests Conservative voters would choose Mr Johnson to remain over any candidate given the chance. The winner of the Tory leadership race will face increasing pressure to announce further support to help households and businesses overcome the cost of living crisis once they take the keys to Number 10. It follows Ofgem’s announcement on Friday that the energy price cap will rise by 80% in October, resulting in the average household paying £3,549 a year for their gas and electricity. Mr Johnson insisted it was up to his successor to decide what action to take. A government spokesman said the Civil Service was “making appropriate preparations to ensure that any additional support or cost of living commitments can be delivered as soon as possible once the new prime minister is in place”.
