Ms James appeared on Sky News to discuss their performance in our Battle for Number 10 program last night – where the pair each faced a separate grilling from Kay Burley. He welcomed the show’s format which allows viewers to see the candidates in “human form”, praising Mr Sunak’s “upbeat energy” and Ms Truss’ “calm, statesmanlike” qualities. But he said: “Both have shown moments of weakness, both have shown moments of flaw.” Ms James said the foreign secretary is like an opera singer who “bursts into the highest notes” when she doesn’t like a question – while the former chancellor sticks his tongue out “like a baby refusing food”. He said of Ms Truss: “When she’s under pressure, she’s a bit like an opera singer bursting into high notes. “We get this flashing staccato rhythm, her vocal tone starts to break slightly, it becomes rather brittle and it’s very, very clear that she doesn’t like the questions or that she’s under pressure.” He revealed another subtle hint of spotting when Mrs Truss is not happy about a question, saying her jaw “goes from side to side” and her “lower lip is absorbed”. “Those in poker will be signs that he’s not comfortable with a question,” Ms. James said. However, he said Ms Truss had “increased her confidence” since starting the leadership contest, adding: “She’s getting heavier with every appearance she does.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 21:56 Truss is asked by the Sky audience In Mr. Sunak, the body language expert noticed that he stuck out his tongue whenever he was asked a difficult question. He said: “When he gets these killer questions, the tongue sticks out. It’s a relic gesture of a baby rejecting food. It’s usually a gesture of rejection and disgust. “And I don’t think Kay disgusted him at all. It was her question that he clearly wasn’t happy with.” He said the leadership hopeful was often guilty of “excessive gestures”, comparing his body language at times to a “car salesman”. However, he suggested that this may be why he won over an audience of mostly undecided voters, who felt he had performed better than his rival despite being consistently ahead of him in the polls. He noted that his use of the “thumb of power” earned him a standing ovation when speaking about Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer’s general election defeat. Ms James said: ‘His verbal message is about caution and yet the body language message is one of optimism, energy, excitement. He walks on stage, he is the one who uses the most energy while speaking. “So this kind of counterintuitive message may have had a very positive effect on the audience.” Read more: What did Truss and Sunak promise during Sky News battle for number 10? Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 21:56 Sunak was asked by the Sky audience “The Invisible Brick” While both candidates have their own strengths and weaknesses, Ms James said they shared a common feature of body language – the “invisible brick”. He said: “That was a gesture they both had in common, they used it almost all the time. “This suggests that you have complete control over the problems in front of you. You know what the problems are going to be. You hold onto them like an invisible brick.” Subscribe to the Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker However, she said what worried her was that this was not followed by the “body language solution”. He said: “It would be great to see more of these precision gestures which would make me think they are not just aware of the problems. “They also know exactly and maybe financially, forensically, they know exactly what they’re going to do.”
