This week we finally said good riddance to Boris Johnson after a ludicrously long campaign ended with Liz Truss confirmed as the new leader of the Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister, voted for by just over 80,000 people in a country of almost 70 million.

While the result is long overdue, ultimately it does not matter who won this leadership election. Neither candidate has laid out anything like a meaningful plan to tackle the cost of living crisis in the short term or given any indication of how they will help fix the long term structural issues holding us back.

And make no mistake about it, the rhetoric that has become from Liz Truss over the last few years and on this campaign trail is from the extreme right wing of the Conservative Party.

She has shrugged off government support as simply handouts despite the fact that workers who have seen wages fall over the past decade are now facing the worst cost of living crisis in generations.

But most frightening is her open attacks on key pillars of our democracy. Liz Truss has pledged to put workers rights on the bonfire, with talk of outlawing strike action and passing legislation to allow companies to easily hire agency staff to mitigate the current strikes effects.

This is on top of the Conservative’s efforts to give police sweeping power to ban protests through the Police & Crime bill as well as attempting to disenfranchise millions of voters through the Elections Bill.

This is a party who wants unprecedented, centralised government power to disrupt our democratic and civil rights while refusing to intervene in the economy to redistribute wealth, despite child poverty levels sky rocketing as the wealthiest 1% continue to get richer and richer.

The simple fact is Liz Truss stands for oppression of working people at odds with the norms of a liberal democracy we often take for granted, here in Wansbeck and across the United Kingdom. The people in this country need a fair deal at work, with sufficient pay and their fundamental rights and liberties protected.

What looks more likely is a head to head battle over a harsh winter between the trade unions, representing working people up and down the country and Liz Truss, representing corporate wealth and the interests of the billionaire class. Which side are you on?