Perhaps unsurprisingly, Liz Truss keeps a low profile.
After being accused of financial irresponsibility and seeing the man he beat scurrying around to clean up the mess, every rare sighting of Britain’s short-lived prime minister on the parliamentary estate has been met with a flurry of excitement.
The former Prime Minister, however, is quietly heard from the shadows: old WhatsApp groups with Truss support are back in action, her closest allies are rallying support for a growth-focused agenda.
Now Liz Truss She appeared herself, in a public PR push, including her first televised interview since her resignation.
In an interview with the Telegraph she admits that “communication could have been better” and underestimated the “power of economic orthodoxy”, but maintains that her philosophy was the right one.
It is not unusual for a former prime minister to make his views known, but Truss’s exile is still fresh and the speed with which the pendulum has swung so far away from her bold tax-cutting agenda has alarmed some MPs.
A senior Tory, and former Truce ally, tells me “it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel because the tunnel is getting longer and longer”.
So how damaging will Truss’ interventions be to Sunak?
The problem is not so much the messenger as the message itself. As one supporter puts it: “No one believes Liz Truss is coming back as the Messiah, but I want a development plan.”
Her words touch on the mood and growing push by some MPs for more optimism from the chancellor. Jeremy Hunt has tried to strike a more positive tone in recent weeks, but says Tax cuts will only come ‘when the time is right’.
Truss allies insist her aim is not to damage the government, but a month out of budget her intervention certainly adds pressure. Many now see the spring statement and the next local elections in May as two major tests for the prime minister.
“If there is a bad budget and there is a disaster in the May election, then there will be instability,” one MP tells me.
And of course, it’s not just Truss: three ex-prime ministers on the back, two only recently ousted, looking old is uncomfortable for any party leader.
Not since Margaret Thatcher has there been a similar situation.
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Theresa May, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson in many ways they represent different factions of the party and each has a pull factor.
Johnson was certainly keen to make his presence felt on the world stage and has loyal supporters who would love to see him back in the Number 10.
As one former cabinet minister put it, “Boris’ blunder” is never far away, “every now and then he pulls the trigger just to make sure everyone knows he’s up to it”.
Sunak he may be the leader to lead the party into the next general election, but as that day slowly draws to a close, his parliamentary colleagues are growing impatient – and Truss’s political comeback isn’t helping.