There’s a funny post doing the rounds on social media showing some pictures of a horse stuck between the bars of a gate and a car somehow perched on top of a concrete pillar. It includes the line: “Do you ever look at stuff and wonder how it got there.”

Included is a picture of Liz Truss outside 10 Downing Street.

It seems remarkable to think that it’s only a mere six years ago that David Cameron was British Prime Minister, leading his country into a referendum fully expecting they would remain in the European Union.

Oops! He has since publicly lamented the gamble which would define, and end, his premiership and in the few years since, the United Kingdom has staggered from one political upheaval to another.

The UK has had three more Prime Ministers in those six years, and what seems even more remarkable is that all three were put into Downing Street initially by a private vote of the Tory party; when Theresa May eventually went to the country she failed to get an overall majority, Boris Johnson did get a big majority on the back of the slogan of getting Brexit done, and Liz Truss need not face the country until 2024.

Truss wasn’t even the choice of a majority of her party’s own MPs and, actually, she didn’t even get the support of a majority of the overall party membership. Her 81,326 votes were 57 per cent of those who did vote, but that’s less than half of the entire membership entitled to vote to elect a new leader and, therefore, British Prime Minister.

Aside from her obvious shortcomings and the divided nature of her party and, indeed, the country, it’s hardly a ringing endorsement and an embarrassment for a democracy which Britain likes to think is an example to the world.

Liz Truss will be taking major decisions now which affect the everyday lives of millions of people, and it’s pertinent to ask how she got there; and who will she really represent?

I was reminded this week of an old interview with the magnificent television playwright, Dennis Potter shortly before he died back in 1994. When he was terminally ill he joked that he nicknamed his pancreatic cancer Rupert because that is how he would describe Murdock’s pollution of the British press.

That played an important part in what Potter believed was the pollution of British public and political life, leading to a misperception of reality and he asked how Britain could have a mature democracy if it continued that way.

And that was 30 years ago, before the advent of a social media cesspit’s race to the bottom of public discourse, where the BBC is cowed by Government and right-wing political figures like Nigel Farage become television presenters.

And don’t forget Donald Trump’s deliberate undermining of the integrity of the responsible work of many fine journalists performing their role honourably.

It suits powerful forces to use and abuse the media; so we’re now seeing the outworking of the concerns that Potter had about the pollution of public life with the lies, spin and pandering to vested interest which pervades the corridors of power now.

The Press Gazette has done a survey of how the Tory leadership election was covered and has written about “how press coverage may have helped Liz Truss into Number 10”.

An analysis of stories shows, for example, that when Penny Mordaunt was initially leading the race she faced a flurry of negative stories from a press owned largely by the right wing.

Perhaps it was ever thus, but we seem to be in a post-truth era now where the power does not lie with the people.

Boris Johnson left Downing Street on Tuesday, ending as he began with lies about his achievements, including painting a picture of his Government paving the path to prosperity for everyone.

So it’s farewell. Or is it?

Like thousands of others I suppose, I googled who Cincinnatus was when Johnson compared himself to the Roman figure who, we learn was a dictator in the fifth century. Many commentators point to the fact that Cincinnatus eventually returned to power, with suggestions that Johnson plans to be back.

I have this nightmare that I wake up in 2025 and Trump is back in the White House and Johnson is redecorating his flat in Downing Street because the gold wallpaper is a bit shabby.

But I was also interested in the fact that the Roman ruler quelled a rebellion of the people or plebeians.

There’s a certain irony in that; Johnson’s attitude to the plebs, the common people, represents the ugly entitlement we get from him and his Ministers. Perhaps you saw the clip of Home Secretary Priti Patel in the House of Commons telling her detractors to “shut up” out of the side of her mouth. It was somehow symptomatic of the sneering attitude of this Government.

So enter Liz Truss at a time when many people are struggling to make ends meet.

Today, we will hear her plans for dealing with the energy crisis and if the briefing is to be believed she plans to spend billions of public money to freeze prices. On the face of it, that would be welcome news for many a family in a tight corner.

But there is a sting in the tail if the commentators are correct about the methodology. Essentially, the Truss Government will guarantee the energy companies won’t lose out because the Government will give them guaranteed loans to cover their huge profits….. and those loans will be paid back over years by consumers with a supplement on energy bills.

Quite the “save now, pay later” scheme.

No one would question the impact on energy of the war in Ukraine, but considering the eyewatering billions of profits being made by these companies, anyone denying that there is considerable profiteering going on at our expense is simply lying to you.

So, don’t be surprised if instead of taxing BP, Shell and the rest to help the consumer in crisis, the Truss Government will make the people pay. It’s the Tory way.

It’s worth bearing in mind how she got into power. Don’t forget Liz Truss was once a Liberal Democrat, once spoke in favour of abolishing the monarchy and in 2016 campaigned to stay in the EU.

All this changed when she saw the way the wind was blowing for her personal ambitions.

Do you think if she had retained all those principles, that those powerful forces who manipulate things would have let her anywhere near 10 Downing Street?

And then there is Northern Ireland. Truss has appointed Chris Heaton-Harris as new Secretary of State. At least there will be one house in Northern Ireland with heat on (Heaton, geddit).

A former chair of the hardline Brexit group ERG, and the Chief Whip who has guided the Protocol Bill thus far, Unionists are hopeful that his appointment sends a signal that the new Prime Minister is on their side and strong on the Union.

Her assertion that she will ignore attention seeker Nicola Sturgeon hardly inspires confidence that she will respect the mandate of the Scottish electorate, and Northern Ireland Unionists should remember the betrayal of successive Prime Ministers when it suits them.

Interesting times ahead then, and the next few days and weeks will be crucial as we see things unfold. If it goes pear-shaped, just remember how she got there.