After four TV debates with audiences largely made up of floating voters, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were finally confronted by Tory activists who will choose Britain’s next prime minister.
And at the end of the first of 12 Conservative Party hustings between now and 31 August, the foreign secretary can bask in the warm glow of a double boost to her leadership campaign.
First, the evidence of these hustings – held in Leeds – confirmed that party members overwhelmingly back her and not Mr Sunak, with many of the activists blaming the former chancellor for “stabbing Boris Johnson in the back”.
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And second, half an hour after the hustings ended, Ms Truss received the massive boost to her campaign of the endorsement of Ben Wallace, tipped as the activists’ favourite for the top job just a few weeks ago.
Furthermore, to make his endorsement of the foreign secretary even sweeter, the defence secretary – whose backing has been coveted by both candidates – attacked Mr Sunak for quitting and triggering Mr Johnson’s downfall.
Mr Wallace said he didn’t have the luxury of walking out because he was responsible for keeping the country safe. And he posed the question of what would have happened if the markets had crashed on the day the chancellor resigned.
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Like the best sporting contests, this Tory hustings was a game of two halves: speeches first and then questions from a feisty and at times highly critical audience largely made up of blunt-speaking Yorkshire activists.
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Mr Sunak’s opening speech was flat and short on detail and failed to win any appreciation from the audience while he was speaking and was greeted with only polite and slightly muted applause when he finished.
Ms Truss, on the other end, was greeted with applause at several points during her speech, for instance when she pledged a Metro and Northern Powerhouse Rail link for Leeds, help for Yorkshire’s rhubarb farmers and support for Ukraine.
In his speech, Mr Sunak appeared to be asking for trouble when he spoke about trust and honesty. And sure enough, he was later tackled by an audience member – and by host Nick Ferrari – about claims of his disloyalty to Mr Johnson.
In fact, when Mr Ferrari pointed out that 14,000 people wanted Mr Johnson on the ballot paper for the leadership, the audience cheered and applauded.
Mr Sunak did better in the Q&A than in his speech, however.
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Read more: What happens now only Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are in the contest?
The audience liked his pledge to bring back grammar schools and his tough talking on illegal migration and asylum.
And when Ms Truss was challenged about her previous comments about the comprehensive school she attended in Leeds – “disobliging”, Mr Ferrari said – she seemed embarrassed. But it was a rare setback.
The vast majority of members of the audience Sky News spoke to were strongly in favour of Ms Truss as the party’s next leader. And then, to round off a highly productive evening for her, came Mr Wallace’s endorsement.
