LIZ Truss, the favourite to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, has started her campaign with a blunder.
The Foreign Secretary overtook rival Penny Mordaunt in the final round of MPs’ votes to make it to the last two contenders in the race to No 10.
She will now face off against former chancellor Rishi Sunak in a ballot of Tory Party members to decide the next prime minister.
Just seconds after the result of the MPs' vote was announced, Truss tweeted to thank her supporters.
However, the frontrunner was forced to delete the post soon after as social media users pointed out a glaring error.
She had written: “Thank you for putting your trust in me. I’m ready to hit the ground from day one.”
A press release issued by Truss’s team at the same time said: “As Prime Minister, I would hit the ground running from day one.”
The omission of the word “running” led to widespread mockery on Twitter, with users suggesting she should wear a helmet if she planned to “fall flat on her face”.
Comedian Jason Mansford wrote: “We’ve already ‘hit the ground’ you vapid idiot! We’ve hit the ground over and over with you and your selfish and greedy friends!
“Did you mean ‘hit the ground running’? Good god! These people are in charge.”
Truss later reissued the tweet with a correction.
The mistake comes after her rival, former chancellor Sunak, appeared to think Darlington was in Scotland in a car crash appearance on Spectator TV.
