Tory leadership leader Liz Truss finally wins over ‘Turnip Taliban’

Liz Truss got a boost last night from a former member of a group called the ‘Turnip’ Taliban‘ who once tried to expel her.

Alderman Roy Brame was one of the local Tories who voted against Miss Truss to run for South West Norfolk’s safe seat in 2009.

But the 67-year-old said yesterday that he now admits she is an “excellent MP for the area” and that he voted against her because “she was not local”.

Traditionalist members of the association were nicknamed the Turnip Taliban – for their conservative views and local agricultural products – when they tried to deselect Miss Truss after her affair with married Conservative MP Mark Field.

Miss Truss narrowly survived and entered parliament the following year after winning the 2010 general election with a comfortable majority of over 13,000 votes.

Mr Brame, who ran an electrical shop before retirement, said: ‘I think she did a very good job. I voted against her because she was our MP because she wasn’t local.

“I don’t think the party should use people who are not from the neighborhood and that was my big problem with the whole thing. We had very good local candidates that could have been done instead of parachuting her.

“But I have to say she has been an excellent Member of Parliament for the area. She moved into the neighborhood, she lives with us.’

While he has “not 100 percent” decided whether to support her or Rishi Sunak in the leadership race, he said she had conducted a “very good campaign.” Last night, Miss Truss pledged to scrap Whitehall-imposed housing targets when she unveiled her planning blueprint.

The Tory leadership frontrunner said she will cut through the “red tape” that holds back housing and instead work with local communities to identify sites ripe for redevelopment.

Under her proposals, all housing targets in Whitehall would be abolished, although local councils would be free to set targets following a ‘conservative ‘bottom-up’ approach.

Miss Truss would also reform the planning system by scrapping measures such as “nutrient neutrality” – which would halt developments if they allowed chemicals, including phosphates and nitrates, to seep into waterways.

She said: ‘Ultimately, local people understand what’s best for their community. A new bottom-up approach will ensure that they have full control over the planning processes in their cities and towns.

“As a former councilor, I understand the frustration that comes when planning decisions are dictated to you by officials sitting in Whitehall with little or no understanding of what is really needed.”

Miss Truss has also vowed to “unlock” home ownership by helping tenants prove they are ready to take out a mortgage.

She would “break down barriers” to support people eager to get up the housing ladder so that more tenants can show they can buy a home.

More than half of current renters can afford the monthly cost of a mortgage, according to the government, but various restrictions mean only 6 percent can get immediate access to a typical mortgage for a first-time buyer.

The Truss campaign said this was because the majority of lenders currently do not consider someone’s ability to pay a certain amount of rent as proof that they can afford to pay a higher mortgage, leaving them can no longer buy a house.

With an upcoming market review by the government, Miss Truss would allow rent payments to be used as part of the affordability assessment for a mortgage.