There’s a gloomy acceptance that Liz Truss, described as “the human hand grenade” who “blows up all she touches” by an admittedly sour Dominic Cummings, will probably win the Tory leadership race. Rishi Sunak, more popular amongst MPs and indeed the media, may not cut the mustard with Tory party members. They have the deciding vote and are predominantly over 60, mainly male, live in the south of England and are self-centredly against tax rises. Sunak is also a hate target for a bileful Boris Johnson and his fanboys.
General population polls say Sunak is best placed to tame inflation and lead the Tories to a next general election win, a slim margin ahead of Keir Starmer, with Liz Truss trailing the opposition by 12 points.
Simon Jenkins in the Guardian is scathing about Truss. “Her limited experience of high office and the conduct of her leadership campaign are unedifying. They suggest a vain, cliched, pseudo-rightwing Tory, with no spark of charisma or originality. Her attempts to mimic Margaret Thatcher have been childishly embarrassing.”
The result will be announced on September 5th when there’s an argumentative Sun square Mars and Mars trine Mercury; with Uranus North Node square Saturn. Though the die is likely to be cast in the next two weeks as members return voting papers early.
The Conservative Party 10 May 1912 chart looks less than enchanted with a high-anxiety Saturn Neptune midpoint over the result plus an aggravated Mars/Uranus which has been running since early August, no doubt through a brutal campaign. There’s also a Progressed Mars square the Pluto which has probably been in effect for several months but won’t lift immediately which is trapped and scared. The wiser heads will be looking ahead to May 2023 onwards for two years with tr Uranus conjunct first the Taurus Sun and then Saturn for a disruptive phase which will turn everything upside down.
If Truss wins, they might all lose.
At a quick glance it seems clear, with Truss having a successful tr Pluto conjunct her Jupiter/Uranus midpoint from August to December; and supporter Jacob Rees Mogg having tr Pluto trine his Jupiter. But nothing with election prediction is ever straightforward or marked out in neon lights. She also has a range of less favourable transits, including outright panic at the moment. She may be suffering from ‘imposter syndrome’ or the dreaded ‘be careful what you wish for’ since deep inside she isn’t convinced she’s up to the job despite all her stage strutting. Even Rees Mogg has some sinker transits alongside his successful ones.
Her supporters are also definitely edgy. Suella Braverman is not a happy MP over the next few months, but she did lose her attempt, I suppose, and may not be handed the promotion she wants for her trouble. Ditto Nadine Dorries. David Frost, the bullish ex-Brexit negotiator, looks to be sinking in a sea of despair with tr Neptune opposition his Mars from mid August till late September; with additional coming-down-to-earth-with-a-bump transits as well. None of them look deliriously happy over the result.
Rishi Sunak has tr Saturn square his Uranus in Scorpio opposition Sun, Mercury in Taurus throughout this month and August into September, which will be downbeat. Plus tr Pluto square his Jupiter/Neptune for dashed hopes and tr Neptune opposition Jupiter/Pluto for undermining of power/confidence. His did have a major-setback Progressed Mars conjunct his Saturn this year so not a great time. He does have a Solar Arc Pluto square his Jupiter still to come within the next few months which will put him on a high with triumph somewhere in his life. So even if he’s down, he won’t be out.
His supporters: Dominic Raab – looks nervy but buoyed up so one way or another may be rewarded by whoever wins. Grant Shapps, less so.
Liz Truss has her Sun conjunct the UK’s Jupiter and her Jupiter in the UK 7th both of which are supportive but her focal point Saturn is also conjunct the UK 10th house Moon suggesting a chilly relationship with too much hectoring and nannying from her. Her relationship charts with both the UK and the Tory Party flag up irritation and impatience with strong Mars Saturn aspects; as well as a tug of war from Jupiter Pluto. The Tory Party in particular will rapidly lose respect and affection for her through the next two years.
Rishi Sunak could come across as overly controlling to the UK with his Pluto square the 10th house Moon and his Jupiter Mars opposition the UK Pluto – so there would be a battle of wills. Pluto also figures largely with himself and the Tory Party with a separation at the moment as tr Saturn squares the composite Sun and opposes the Pluto. With both being Taurus they should suit each other, but perhaps now is not the moment.
As the UK heads for a blocked Solar Arc Pluto square the Sun, exact in four months, at the same time as high alarm on the financial front with the 2nd house Neptune getting poleaxed by the 1 August tr Uranus Mars NN conjunction stretching on into 2023 with more money woes thereafter, it is building up to a grim scenario. Freezing or starving may not be the pale, male, stale Tory Party members’ primary concern but it is for a goodly chunk of the population. It requires a competent hand on the tiller with no indication that is what will be chosen.
Add On: Liz Truss. For more detail see post December 20 2021.
Her chart has two T squares one a restless Cardinal and a scattered, blowing-in-the-breeze Mutable
Cardinal T Square Saturn Mercury Focal points – assertive, impatient, domineering, demands total supervision, resents interference, scattered. Tr Pluto continuing to bring pressures to bear as it squares her Uranus through 2022/2023. Since the T Square involves a Saturn square Jupiter there will be constant highs and lows, a see-saw of moods and alternating good luck/bad luck.
Mutable T Squares Neptune focal point – confused under stress, misreads cues/messages, impractical, absent minded, disorganised, lacks will power, chameleon-like. Tr Saturn will bring a reality check through 2023 as it moves through Pisces.
I don’t want Rishi Sunak because he wanted to limit the length of time to four months to settle a loved one estate. I mean not everyone can deal with things like clearing out a house selling it and dealing with all the things you are supposed to do. To be honest he scares me!
Hello, This morning, If I’ve heard right on GB News, Anne Diamond mentioned that the vote closes at 5pm on the 2nd September. Wondered about possible Astrological impact? With kind regards.
With regard to the U.K. 1801 Chart I note that Mercury will be exactly conjunct the 7 Libra Ascendant on 5 September 2022 when the result of the Conservative leadership election is announced.
The Tory Tamworth manifesto chart (18 Dec 1834) has Moon at 16 Can 37 and Mars at 17 Can 28, and when the results come out on 5th Sept, they’ll be sextile transiting Uranus at 18 Tau 52 – so fresh start? Fresh start implies Sunak not Truss who is continuity Boris.
Uranus is important for Sunak’s chart. He’s a Brexiteer and on referendum day, transiting Uranus was exactly conjunct his Moon. When he became Chancellor in Feb 2020, transiting Uranus was trine his Jupiter & Mars.
When his wife’s non-dom stuff was hitting the headlines in April, transiting Uranus was conjunct his Chiron.
When the leadership result comes out tr Uranus will be conj his Mercury and trine his Saturn, and next year will be conj his sun and opposite his uranus.
I think it’s going to be Sunak. Tories are in one of their revolutionary moods.
The New Moon next week is Conjunct Liz Truss’s Sun. The New Moon after that is in Virgo close to her natal Venus.
David Lloyd George had Saturn at 5 Libra, Churchill had Mars at 2 Libra.
With regard to Liz Truss she was born in the same year that Mrs Thatcher became Leader of the Conservative Party on 11 February 1975 when Pluto retrograde was at 8 degrees 59 minutes of Libra. It tracked back over the U.K. Ascendant to 6 degrees 31 in June 1975 and then went direct shortly before Truss was born. Her opponents may liken Truss to a pound shop Thatcher but her chart certainly resonates with the beginnings of her rise to power. It will be interesting to see if she does become PM.
Interesting to see how the UK’s recent PMs have plugged into the UK 1801 chart’s 7 Libra Ascendant. David Cameron has Venus at 7 Libra (his Sun at 15 Libra is conjunct the 1801 chart’s Uranus 14 Libra which makes sense considering the chaos he triggered). Theresa May has her Sun at 8 Libra. Boris Johnson has his Ascendant at 11 Libra. Of the two candidates, Liz Truss has her natal Pluto at 6 Libra conjunct the UK’s Ascendant which could suggest a very stormy, roller-coaster interface if she becomes PM. As Pluto in Capricorn reaches its final stage, both main parties, in their quest to preserve the status quo at any cost, seem to be rapidly regressing – harking back to the past of Thatcher and Blair. Martin Lewis, in particular, has pointed out there is the potential for civil unrest this Winter due to energy bills that many won’t be able to afford to pay. Then there is industrial action spreading across all sectors of the economy. It will be interesting to see the role of the unions and their leaders as we see them operate as the opposition to the vacuum of Westminster politics.
Yes, SarahK – it’s fascinating. Margaret Thatcher, whose spirit somehow looms over both Tories and the UK, had Mars at 9 Libra. Her Pluto/Jupiter opposition makes a neat Cardinal Cross with the UK Nodes, all at 14 degrees. Her own North Node in Leo aligns with UK Jupiter, which does suggest some kind of fateful path. Rishi Sunak’s Pluto is exactly conjunct Mrs T’s Libran Sun. These square the Tory Party Mars, and the UK Moon in Cancer – compelling, but looks bumpy to say the least for Mr Sunak.
It’s interesting to look at the history of this, and see just how much more divided things seem have become since Mrs Thatcher’s time. She had friends in the Labour Party back then, including a close friend, Frank Field. Reading some of her quotes and so on shows how things have changed in politics – notably in very recent years, ahem. Farewell to nuance! I hope we see it return.
Personal opinions aside, Liz Truss’ chart is quite fascinating with those two t-squares but then also a Leo Sun and Taurus Mars for fixedness. It’s quite balanced with a bit of everything 5 cardinal, 3 mutable, fixed – 2 planets plus nodes. Then from another perspective – 3 fire, 3 water, 2 air, 2 earth.
That said, I think it’s also quite a passive chart with 2 cancer, 2 libra, moon in pisces, mars in taurus, venus in virgo trying to play off against the Jupiter in Aries and Leo Sun which is weakened by its trine to Sag Neptune.
I hadn’t realised until now that transiting Uranus is passing back and forth over her Taurus Mars. Wonder what house that is in to be making this move? Last pass next April – maybe that’s when she calls a GE?
Someone asked about what happens when Pluto opposes her Sun. I think she may be just the dictatorial sort to act out the regal Leo archetype and move us into the Pluto in Aqua period full force.
I noticed an astrological curiosity. Liz Truss was born not long after the 5th June 1975 Referendum on remaining in what was then the EEC. The Saturn-Jupiter squeezebox expand/contract square of the Referendum was at 17 Aries and Cancer, so it’s moved on by July to aspect LT’s disruptive Uranus – at 28 degrees in both charts.
Neptune was 10 Sagittarius that June, Liz T’s is 9 Sagittarius – Tory Jupiter 13 Sagittarius. A very idealogical, wide-ranging Tory Jupiter full of Neptune’s dreams in 1975, and then asked to review that by Saturn in 2016?
The Referendum’s Venus in Cancer square Uranus (potentially quite impulsive yet stubborn) clicks into place with LT’s chart as well.
By the time of the 2016 Referendum, Saturn squared Jupiter again at 16 Virgo (Jupiter) and 11 Sagittarius (Saturn). Neptune at 12 Pisces and Mercury 16 Gemini make for a confusing mutable grand cross in 2016. Uranus was 23 Aries, moving towards opposing it’s 1975 position, and bringing a crisis and turning point of early middle age for EU membership, and Liz Truss herself. Anyway, it’s quite a curious web. Roll on Saturn in Pisces – the next chapter awaits.
I prefer Sunak, but Putin hates Truss.
And I can’t deny that I’d like to see what further problems she could cause him as the UK’s PM.
Deirdre, Point well made. Please, more astrology and less pontificating about political minutiae.
Seems to me you can’t have one without the other, but point taken.
Deeply ironic that the Tories seem to be hankering after a new Thatcher. She had passion and a vision, which is indeed what is lacking on all sides of the political spectrum at the moment, but she was also commited to the UK being at the heart of the EU.
With respect, Margaret Thatcher was indeed a keen backer of the “yes” campaign in the 1975 referendum on whether to stay in the European Economic Community. She even ventured to wear a sweater with the flags of the member countries sewed in. However, her 11 years in Downing Street were marked by a growing opposition to European integration that contributed heavily to her downfall.
Not everyone in the Tory Party at that time was as vexed as Thatcher about European questions. Her growing antipathy to Europe prompted the 1990 resignation of her foreign secretary, Geoffrey Howe. His stinging resignation speech prompted a leadership battle. The resulting schism has never really been bridged.
Well, just another Tory who insisted on “my way, or the highway”, I suppose which is ultimately their undoing, for all of them. The problem with being ‘leader’ is that everyone looks to you and you take the brunt of people’s dissatisfaction while actually you have little control and are essentially just a figurehead (Also Rutte’s problem in the Netherlands). I think Truss will not be able to cope with that, you need thick skin, which Thatcher had. She will take it personally and that will totally indermine her.
I think the Tory ‘backroom boys’ are pushing her forward as the one they think they can most easily manipulate and control. But it will be a disaster. Sunak would want to carve his own path and they don’t want that.
Power without responsibilty is what we have seen with Johnson and it is unlikely to change in the short term. Just become less apparent. More chaos required before any real reform.
It’s great reading the astrology but there is always more than one version of “what might be” and I love to speculate!
If Rishi Sunak became PM, Lady Margaret Thatcher would turn in her grave.
Why?
Because he is an Indian?
I have that impression of Margaret Thatcher’s deepest instincts too.
The global drift is towards authoritarian libertarianism, a neo-feudalism. I fear it’s worse than it was 100 yrs ago, the move ever further right both here and abroad I find very alarming. I presume there’s a long way to go before things start to move back towards the centre. And all with climate change looming over our heads.
I’ve never heard of authoritarian libertarianism – though I have heard of liberal authoritarianism. What is the difference?
Either way, the phrase seems to be an oxymoron. Libertarianism is about giving freedom to the people, authoritarianism takes it away. They are opposites.
The UK was traditionally seen as having a mixed economy – a balance between a free market economy and intervention by the state. The political debate was to do with where the balance lay ie where the centre point between libertarianism and authoritarianism lay.
That is not to say that the balance point lies between Tory and Labour. All extremes are authoritarian whether extreme right (facism?) or extreme left (communism?). Both were tried in the 20th century and found wanting.
Well when the big dogs have their liberty – liberty from rules and regulations, health & safety, they weill have the ability to do absolutely and exactly as they please. We too will be totally free to work or not, as we please; but as we don’t have any wealth to sustain us, we will be forced to choose work for whatever fee the corporations choose to pay, or to starve. We’ve seen this happen just recently in the UK with P&O Ferries. They’ve sacked the UK workforce, and are employing other workers at wages well below the minimum wage. So the trajectory as I see it is Libertarianism carving out the path to authoritarianism.
I take your point Victoria, if not the label. The pendulum must start to swing the other way but is the current Labour Party in any position to do anything?
Marjorie, surely the big transit to take into account regarding Truss is the fact that Pluto is starting to oppose her Sun now (it will be exact in 2024 I think?). What might this transit mean for her in terms of holding power?
Firstly, looking back I see that Boris was shown the door with Mars being in exact opposition to his moon which Marjorie rightly pointed out was a sensitive spot.
One prolonged transit which interests me is that of Mars through Gemini from August for the rest of the year until March 2023. we will all give a sigh of relief when Mars enters cancer in March 2023.
I wonder whether this indicates some rearguard action by Boris and his chums, working behind the scenes is hardly Boris’s usual method.
On the whole it looks fairly chaotic for the next three years or so.
Tx Marjorie, perhaps liz Truss will not be top dog but the big cheese
When the tories are out of power which is hopefully soon, I can’t see the labour party being any better just like if all the males were replaced by females there would be no better result, and all the over 60’s replaced by the under 30’s and 40’s -my generation ,the world and UK would be no better at all . No humans have the answer, as history proves time and time again . Sorry to be soo cynical
Oh, don’t say that.
If one were to the conversations of youngsters online, one would come to the conclusion that they have figured out the issues and questions that have faced all the generations that have preceded them for millennia.
I wish I could live long enough for the next generation after them to torpedo and destroy their values.
30’s and 40’s – At least they’d be the current tax payers voting for their own future though? It’s easier to gamble with the economy for ideology (brexit) when your mortgage is paid off and you’re on a final salary pension scheme, I guess. Easier to mentally block climate change out when you don’t want a wind farm near the place you’re spending your retirement. Etc., etc…
There are of course, exceptions, but people largely vote for their own interests and I’m afraid they tend to be selfish and short term. But, younger people at least will think about jobs, raising families and retirement. Women are more likely to have taken on caring roles, so will value and be much more aware of the state of public services.
Not true Tara. Youngsters in the UK flocked to support Corbyn when he virtually promised to abolish University tuition fees and student debt. They left the Labour Party in droves (before 2019) when Corbyn reinterpreted his virtual promise as merely an ‘aspiration’. We can all ‘aspire’ but few can achieve their highest aspirations – as the older generation have discovered for themselves.
General elections are as much about delivery as it is about policy. For example, the people as a whole decided on Brexit in the referendum and trusted Boris to deliver. I am not sure why he has now been rejected by the Tory MPs but presumably they have their own agenda. I hope the agenda is national economic recovery. The Tory members will have to decide which person and which policy can best achieve it – I simply don’t know.
Liz, with respect I think you may be missing the point.
Lots of people will vote in self interest and also have a range of experiences – that’s why it’s important to have diversity in representation.
Some people will be more affected by the outcomes than others, that doesn’t mean they always have better answers, but at least they’d determine their own future
Liz Truss … another mutable T-square … meh.
Pisces moon just seems to undermine Leo Sun. I’m thinking of Robert De Niro’s issues but also a couple of guys I know with it. Really lovely guys but when always bend when the pressure comes on. Nothing Liz Truss has done recently or historically indicates she has any backbone. Impersonating Margaret Thatcher seems a very Piscean moon thing to do to try and convince herself that she isn’t hollow.
Her main claim to fame recently was in bringing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe home and then failing to follow through. See:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/21/liz-truss-brought-home-wife-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-then-failed-her
I have said it before on these pages but the ‘Magnitsky sanctions’ are really problematic: who decides who should be sanctioned and who should not be sanctioned; and what role should our allies play (US and EU in particular) in any such sanctions.
Sadly, electorate fall for such gimmicks. A Yougov poll out now: only 40% Tory members trust Sunak while 68% trust Truss to tell the truth!
This country is doomed.
Polling 108% of Tory members also seems a very current Tory thing!! 😀
Sorry it’s 40% Yes and 40% No for Sunak.
For Truss it’s 68% Yes and 18% No
GnarlyDude, where are you seeing the mutable T square? Looks pretty cardinal to me.
FWIW, I am a Leo Sun/Pisces Moon. Yes, I can be indecisive and flexible to a fault, but I can also be quite obstinate when I think it is a matter of principle. Just for the record.
There is both the cardinal t-square AND a mutable one.
The mutable is Pisces moon oppo Virgo Venus … t-squaring Sag Neptune.. All at 9degs at midday where it’s very tight. The moon ranges from 3-15degs over the day which is still in orb.
Appreciate your clarification on your personal Sun/moon, certainly I’m aware there are always exceptions to my generalisms so it’s good to hear more experiences. Most likely the difference is you actually have some principles whereas Liz Truss …
Thanks for the clarification. I also have a mutable t-square, so as you can imagine your comment caught my attention. Hopefully I do not resemble Liz too much.
Now I come to think of it, I have one myself although it does bring in some fixed planets.
My mehness was more about the recent Boris Johnson governments having been full of people with mutable planets and the u-turning / lies /deception that has brought.
Thanks Marjorie – as always, it’s so helpful to see patterns – even if they’re not exactly uplifting! This political crisis highlights the gap between the population as a whole, and the politics. Average citizen in the UK is now 40, 53% of the Conservative Party membership is 60+, average Labour Party membership with 45% is also 60+ (Statista).
I noticed that in October 2023 there’s a Solar Eclipse at 21 Libra, conjunct the Tory’s South Node, square Neptune in Cancer (dreams of Mummy or Nanny?!). Margaret Thatcher’s Sun is 19 Libra, Mercury 23 Libra – so the Nodes could be a sensitive point in this chart, with some kind of collective Tory nostalgia?
A Lunar follows, at 5 Taurus, conjunct the Tory 4 Taurus Venus. There’s potential for an upheaval there I think, involving citizens, and possibly a female PM. In the spring of ’23, Saturn is conjunct the Tory Moon in Pisces, and the UK Pluto in Pisces. This looks so restrictive, blocked, and could even involve the security services or military?
It is worrying to think that the very male dominated Tory membership can choose our next PM. And are likely to be vengeful when it comes to Rishi, seeing him as a ‘traitor’ or a ‘snake’. Of the two, Rishi is the sensible choice I think, although I’m not a Tory. But we should probably be having an election, and not having to endure a summer of all this nonsense, watching the Tory Party implode.
Saw something online this morning that Dominic Cummings had said that Boris was backing Truss as he knew that she would implode in the PM role and then he could stand again and come back as leader.
Please tell me that the return of Boris in NOT in the stars!
Saw something online this morning that Dominic Cummings had said that Boris was backing Truss as he knew that she would implode in the PM role and then he could stand again and come back as leader.
That sounds like what could happen here in the States. Biden replaced Trump only to be replaced by Trump in 2024. *sigh*
Truss as PM now. Then hopefully, General elections in May 2023 and Tories out of power.
As for Rishi Sunak, looks like he might leave politics by end of this year to some lucrative financial role.
Why May 2023?
Keep in mind that the latest that a General Election can be called is January 2025 (if the Tories want to stretch it to the maximum length allowed in law).
To be precise, under ‘The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022′, the latest time Parliament is dissolved and a general election called is “the beginning of the day that is the fifth anniversary of the day on which it first met.” For the present Parliament, which first met on 17 December 2019, this means the fifth-anniversary date of 17 December 2024 and the latest possible polling day 25 working days later, ie 24 January 2025.
The same Act allows the Prime Minister to request the monarch to dissolve Parliament and call an early election with 25 working days’ notice. It may be worth noting that in September 2021, Oliver Dowden, the newly appointed chairman of the Conservative Party, told party staff to prepare for a general election. The Daily Telegraph reported that an election could be held in May or June 2023. In March 2022, Dowden announced that the Conservatives would start a two-year election campaign in May, implying an election date of May 2024.
I suppose we now have to wait and see whether the resignation of Boris and the election of a new PM this year by the Tory Party will delay the intended election date. Either way, May or December, the new PM will have to start preparing an election campaign almost immediately on appointment.
The Conservative party deserve a long period of opposition to sort themselves out and not inflict their dramas on the rest of the population.
I see the press is reporting that a change in rules has been mooted allowing members voting early may change their mind during the summer. I don’t know if this is true or not but if so this is the type of farcical behaviour associated with Johnson trying to manipulate everyone and everything.
Harold Wilson once said, “A week is a long time in politics.” Liz Truss will find becoming PM is the political equivalent
of stepping off a cliff. Today’s heroes will become tomorrow’s villains within that pressure cooker.
The irony is that Rishi Sunak is better off if he doesn’t get the position of PM.
Harold Wilson was another Piscean – quickly changed his mind on issues and didn’t follow through. His colleague Barbara Castle’s (In Place of Strife) was led on and then unceremoniously dumped.