The star of the final Tory leadership interviews? Joe Lycett

When politics descends into farce, challenging it with humour is not only appropriate, but necessary, writes Harriet Williamson

I really hope Lycett becomes a fixture on politics panels for the foreseeable future (BBC)

The highlight of Sunday’s Tory leadership candidate interviews with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One was, without a shadow of a doubt, the comedian Joe Lycett.

A slow and robotic performance from Liz Truss, from which the takeaways are that she will announce a plan to tackle the energy price crisis within a week of entering No 10, and that she believes her proposed tax cuts, which would hand nearly £2,000 to the highest earners, are “fair”, was rebutted best by Lycett, pretending to be “extremely right-wing”.

Humour can cut through the obfuscation and wishy-washy answers that are often what we’ve come to expect from politicians – and Lycett capitalised on this, responding to Truss’s refusal to spell out measures to help with energy bills by remarking: “Yeah, she was very clear what she said. I think you know exactly what’s going to happen. I’m reassured, you’re reassured.”