I hardly ever expected to come to feel sorry for Liz Truss, writes former Woman’s Hour presenter JENNI MURRAY 

I experienced actually not anticipated to experience sorry for Liz Truss as I viewed her place on the bravest of faces with her partner and daughters and stroll away from Downing Road on Tuesday.

Oh, the humiliation of knowing that, just after only 45 days in the position she experienced established her laser-centered ambition on, then unsuccessful at in the most community way feasible, it was all over.

No a lot more dwelling in the most famous deal with in the world, with accessibility to breathtaking region homes at Chevening and Chequers. No additional sweeping to the Palace to fulfill the King in a significant, flash car.

Rather, the removal gentlemen ended up picking up her microwave, her kitchen pedal bin and other mundanities of existence to be returned to the somewhat much more modest family members home south of the river in Greenwich.

I was not sorry to see her go. Her small time in electrical power was a disaster.

I’d recognized her professionally for a very good handful of several years and had frequently identified her a little bit strange with her oddly truncated speech designs, weird facial expressions and evident lack of psychological intelligence. She was no general public speaker and I unquestionably never observed her as Prime Ministerial material.

‘I experienced definitely not predicted to really feel sorry for Liz Truss as I viewed her place on the bravest of faces with her husband and daughters and walk away from Downing Road on Tuesday’

In that I was correct, but despite her self-serving, unapologetic remaining speech and her ordinarily arrogant and egocentric, ‘Well at least I’ve been Key Minister!’ goodbye, I cannot support sympathising with what she has to facial area upcoming.

As an common constituency MP, she’ll be a part of what I have dubbed, from bitter own working experience, the ‘Once I Was Sizzling, But Now I’m Not,’ club. I know she’ll be asking herself, ‘Who am I now?’

It is two years because I remaining the task that defined me for 33 yrs. I was Jenni Murray, presenter of Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

It had been my biggest ambition since childhood. I’d introduced Newsnight and Currently, but the second I heard the announcer very first say on Monday, September 14, 1987, ‘And now Woman’s Hour, with Jenni Murray’ remains the most thrilling of my daily life.

I liked every minute of those people 33 decades and, as opposed to Liz Truss, I was not compelled out of my placement (nevertheless even when you depart a top rated career of your very own volition, it doesn’t quit others speculating). I built the alternative to depart as my 70th birthday came and went.

It’s possible it was time, I imagined, to do something distinct. Soon after all, my younger son Charlie, 33 at the time, experienced never recognised his mom as everything but Jenni Murray, presenter of Woman’s Hour.

There experienced been situations when they were being youthful and I had pre-recorded a programme to allow me a lender vacation with the spouse and children, that the boys had read the begin at 10 o’clock and stated, ‘Hey, Mum, pay attention, Jenni Murray’s on the radio.’

‘Despite her self-serving, unapologetic closing speech and her normally arrogant and selfish, ‘Well at least I have been Prime Minister!’ goodbye, I can not assist sympathising with what she has to face next’

Mum and Jenni Murray were being not the exact human being in their eyes, but it was Jenni Murray who was popular and it was she they admired and of whom they were very pleased. Even though maybe not so happy when strangers interrupted a family meal out!

I contact it a occupation, but it wasn’t truly. It was a standing. The programme was essential, well known and cherished and my presentation and interviewing fashion, sense of humour and breadth of passions and awareness appeared to be tremendously admired.

How else would I have acquired to just take my mom to see the Queen in Buckingham Palace when I was awarded an OBE or my sons and my spouse to witness me getting designed a Dame? How else would I have been invited to functions at Clarence House and discussions with the now Queen Consort, Camilla?

How else would I have been invited to opening nights at the theatre or film premieres. How amazing it appeared to have photographers at these large situations calling out, ‘Jenni, Jenni, glance this way.’ A performing-class lady from Barnsley was rubbing shoulders with the crème de la crème. It by no means ceased to truly feel amazing.

The ‘job’ had grow to be who I was. It was how men and women noticed me and how I saw myself. If I was chatting to the headmaster at my sons’ colleges, I understood he was hanging on every single term I claimed due to the fact of who I was.

He was also judging how beneficial I may possibly be if he wanted a ‘personality’ to talk at a charity function. Even mates would occasionally give the impact that it was a make a difference of delight to have ‘the’ Jenni Murray attend their events.

Even when the Woman’s Hour listening figures peaked at 3.7 million a week in 2016, I experimented with challenging hardly ever to enable it go to my head.

Primary Minister Liz Truss with her household wait around at the rear of the No10 doorway as they still left for the final time 

I’m not guaranteed I constantly succeeded. I was so tied up in the perform included in presenting the programme, I fear there were occasions when I neglected my obligations as a daughter, mom and spouse. I know there were moments when my husband, David, grew to become furious at staying referred to as Mr Murray. Murray is not his title. It was my initially husband’s.

I considered I was nicely ready for the finish when it lastly occurred. I continue to experienced my minor bolthole in London, but we also experienced a new loved ones dwelling on the south coastline and I fully intended to ‘spend a lot more time with my family’ — that euphemism so typically deployed to help save encounter, but fully genuine in my case.

I wanted to function at a little something to keep my brain in gear, but I planned to make existence less complicated. I had taken on a new agent for any broadcasting I may be available and had managed to persuade a senior editor at this paper that I may well have a potential as a columnist, but, as I still left Broadcasting Dwelling for the final time, I felt I was leaving household.

The pandemic however raged, there’d been a small minor occasion attended by the director-basic. I experienced bouquets, a cake baked by Mary Berry, then out the back again to a waiting taxi to stay away from the waiting Press at the entrance door.

It was above. My coronary heart has never ever felt heavier.

I tried the ‘brave face’ trick. Would not it be wonderful to be equipped to get up in the early morning at a sensible hour? Rising at 5.30am had been the sample for so long, I imagined it would be marvellous to get up, possibly at 9, walk the dogs, have breakfast with my husband, read the papers and rest.

It wasn’t to be. I however woke up each working day at 5.30am. David would check out to conceal his discomfort at my require to scour the news but would frequently fall short. ‘Oh, occur on,’ he would say. ‘Stop functioning. You really do not have to do it any additional. Let us program a day, get some workout, do the shopping, take pleasure in each other’s company.’

The only views ringing by way of my head have been how will I fill days that now appeared so prolonged.

A career like that defines your each and every waking moment and the sample had been so very clear for years. The 5.30am alarm, shower, do the hair, put on make-up, costume to impress, trot the canines, get into the ready taxi, be pushed by means of North London, greet the commissionaires at Broadcasting Dwelling, read through the papers at my desk, chat with the producers, generate a script, prepare interviews, into the studio, an hour on air, a write-up programme debrief about how it went and what would be on tomorrow. Lunch with mates and colleagues. A taxi household. An afternoon snooze. A guide to examine in preparing for an interview. A film or a play to see. Existence was so comprehensive.

Not any a lot more. I was no for a longer time on the A-listing.

Mates were astonished that I had preferred to go away what I’d usually explained was the very best job in the environment. ‘We imagined you’d die with your headphones on,’ was a common wail.

‘We nonetheless pay attention, but it is not the exact with no you.’ I was flattered and study each and every complimentary post in the newspapers, bemoaning my departure. It was comforting to go through descriptions of me as ‘a national treasure’, ‘the woman with the most lovely voice ever’ or the ‘interviewer who brought out the finest in anyone she encountered. Heat, unafraid and tricky when necessary’.

Deputy PM Therese Coffey (appropriate) and employees gather outside the house No 11 Downing Avenue just ahead of the outgoing British Key Minister Liz Truss helps make her final tackle to the country

Yes, I recall just about every phrase, but no make a difference how pleased I felt at the compliments, I experienced to hold reminding myself it was around.

Experienced I been a fool to walk away? Sure, I considered I experienced.

Each working day I located myself speeding to swap off the radio just before 10am. I experienced used almost 50 % my life crafting the way I wrote my programme and building a design and style of interviewing which worked. How could I bear to facial area the point that Woman’s Hour would go on with no me? Jenni Murray is dead, long live Emma Barnett was a regular refrain. Photographs of this rather girl with very long blonde hair felt like a kick in the stomach. She seemed so contemporary and younger!

A replacement is normally keen to outline their new management. Rishi Sunak’s to start with speech as Key Minister couldn’t have been any plainer: he had been introduced in to ‘fix’ the mistakes of his predecessor.

Close friends advised me Emma experienced bought rid of the serial, the 15-moment drama that experienced punctuated the exhibit.

How experienced she managed that? I’d experimented with and unsuccessful to modify what in my working day was effectively Woman’s Hour’s 45-moment slot. Now it was to be a total hour of presenter-led discussions. How frustrating. Even now, two years on, I have to grit my tooth on the unusual events I tune in.

I hear Emma simply call listeners ‘listeners’. I normally known as them ‘you’ — a direct conversation with the people today to whom I was talking.

Her to start with day coincided with the 75th anniversary of the programme, which opened with her studying out a letter from the Queen, wishing the programme ‘continued success in your significant function as a pal, tutorial and advocate to ladies everywhere’.

No mention was made of my tenure as its longest-serving presenter.

I tried using really challenging not to be jealous and mainly failed.

I knew the only way to cope with that panic of the empty working day and the decline of a public profile, absolutely free transport, assistance with analysis and generally becoming admired and cared for was to throw myself enthusiastically into one thing else.

The initially issue I took on was far from my consolation zone. I was requested to take aspect in The Actual Whole Monty — the yearly ITV clearly show involving singing, dancing and stripping off, designed to stimulate some others to examine them selves for cancer and get early remedy.

It was pleasurable and time-consuming and I was genuinely relatively very pleased of myself for executing a little something so surprising. Even my sons managed to view it with out becoming far too embarrassed.

There have been other issues which have held me fast paced, pondering and creating new pals and colleagues. A podcast sequence for Now Teach, encouraging many others in afterwards lifestyle looking for a new way of operating to maybe get up instructing.

I manufactured a movie for ITV about the will need for the law on assisted dying to be changed to empower the terminally ill suffering terrific discomfort to be capable to make the preference to die.

I am most grateful to have the room to publish about factors I really treatment about for Femail.

So, Liz, take it effortless, provide your constituents and never be tempted, if approached, by someone who asks, ‘Do I recognise you from someplace?’ as has took place to me a number of moments in retailers and places to eat, to be detrimental.

I discovered myself answering, ‘I employed to be Jenni Murray.’

But I am continue to Jenni Murray — and happy of her.