Liz Truss clings on as desperate Tories don’t know how to get rid of her or who to replace her with – what happens next?
HAMSTRUNG Liz Truss was clinging to power last night as her enemies struggled to find a candidate or mechanism to oust her from office.
Warring Tory factions held secret talks in Parliament but admitted it could take weeks to draw up a credible plan for removing the PM from Downing Street.
A handful of MPs went public with their calls for her to quit - but last night No10 were hopeful they had neutralised an immediate challenge with Truss's enemies deeply divided over what to do.
A source said: “Appointing Jeremy Hunt has split the critics bang down the middle - the wets have their man in power now. Do they really want to risk losing that in a leadership election?”
Panicking Conservative MPs are deeply torn over whether ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, ex-leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt or Chancellor Jeremy Hunt should replace the wounded premier.
Leading Sunak supporter Mel Stride was last night hosting a dinner of fellow "Sunakistas", where he admitted the PM's fate was on the menu.
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But bad blood boiled over among rival camps with one Cabinet Minister branding Rishi a “bad loser” and urging him to tell his supporters to give up.
They blasted: “Team Rishi’s efforts are fuelling the destabilisation of the government. This in turn is fuelling market volatility.
“They should stop being bad losers and desist and Rishi seems to have forgotten that he was the author of all this over-spending.
“No one wants to give the matches back to the arsonist.”
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It came after senior Conservatives warned getting rid of Ms Truss would inevitably end up with a general election sooner rather than later - where the party risked an historic wipe-out.
Ex-Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries also hit out saying a poll showing the party 36 points behind showed the Tories were on the road to “extinction”.
And she swiped: “In July, when Sunak, Conservative MPs, and ministers orchestrated their first coup, we were 5 points behind in the polls, had an 80 seat majority and Boris Johnson was our PM.
“This poll doesn’t show us losing an election, it condemns us to extinction".
Meanwhile former leadership hopeful, Penny Mordaunt stepped up to take the flak for the PM as she swerved a battering in the Commons on why she'd fired her former Chancellor.
The Commons Leader sparked giggles - and accusations she was auditioning for the top job - as she said the PM was not "hiding under a desk" and had "a lot else on" while defending her no-show. Labour Chief Sir Keir Starmer joked: "The lady is not for turning... up."
Splitting the party for good
Truss later emerged in the Chamber to watch her new Chancellor rip up her mini-budget and condemn 'Trussonomics' to an early grave.
Last night in a bid to shore up her position, Ms Truss addressed the One Nation group of left-wing Tory MPs, as MPs pondered whether to make her the shortest ever serving PM.
As she went in, she said in a nod to her attempts to reach out across the party: "One Nation has never been more popular!"
And last night she invited the cabinet to an unusual "informal Cabinet reception" to allow them to air their grievances.
She also held a private meeting with Sir Graham Brady, the powerful chair of the 1922 backbench committee, as speculation mounts its members could rip up the rules to force her to leave her post early.
At the moment she is safe for a year after being elected, but if enough letters come in calling for a leadership contest, she could face an earlier challenge.
However senior Tories cautioned against changing the rules as another bloody leadership election - or a coronation" risks splitting the party for good.
One ex-Cabinet Minister said he "detected no appetite" for Brady to change the rules yet, accusing MPs urging him to do so of "hysteria.";
As of last night five Tory MPs had gone public to tell Truss the game was up after a remarkable blowing up of her Government.
I don’t think her position is recoverable. We need a unifier - it’s a situation which can only be remedied with a new Prime Minister.
Veteran Charles Walker
Veteran Charles Walker, standing down at the next election, said her position was “not recoverable” to stay in place saying he gave her a “week or two” in post.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “If he doesn’t go right now, it will not be her decision. I don’t think her position is recoverable. We need a unifier - it’s a situation which can only be remedied with a new Prime Minister.”
Backbencher Angela Richardson told Times Radio: “We saw those unfunded tax cuts. Had that not happened, the markets would not have responded in the way that they did and I believe that’s 100% down to the Prime Minister, I’m afraid.
“So I just don’t think that it’s tenable that she can stay in her position any longer. And I’m very sad to have to say that.”
But one ex-Minister said: “It’s not easy to get rid of a Prime Minister. Just look at how long it took to get rid of Boris Johnson, it was months and months.”
And Tories from the left of the party stopped short of calling for her to go - saying they will give her time to “get back on to the right track”.
Former minister Victoria Atkins told the BBC: “She is the Prime Minister at the moment, we will not have an election for the next few years.
“I want her to get us back on to the right track, I want her to reiterate our concerns for our constituents and for compassionate One Nation values.”
One Nation ringleader Damian Green - seen by Ms Truss' side last night - said Mr Hunt’s appointment was “already beginning to reassure the markets” and he hopes the statement will give Ms Truss the chance to “start again”.
He said earlier: “I think the appointment of Jeremy Hunt and what he’s done so far shows us a way that we can do that and if we continue on that course then we will get back the stability that everyone is crying out for.”
Allies of the Chancellor are said to want to give him time to get into the job in case Ms Truss falls - which could put him in prime position to take over.
Tory MP Royston Smith was on the fence over what should be done, but said the appointment of Mr Hunt was “inspired”.
He said: “I don’t think that it’s all over yet. We need to take a breath and decide what it is we want and what it is we want to do.”
4 PATHS TORIES CAN GO
THE Tories are stuck in a tricky spot.
With polls showing their ratings plunging, do they get rid of Liz Truss as PM — and if so, how — to have a chance at the next election. Who replaces her and what if she digs in? Jack Elsom looks at four options.
1. PEACEFUL TRANSITION
HER tax-cutting agenda in tatters and her authority shot, Liz Truss chucks in the towel.
Tories manage to agree on a unity candidate and she hands over power, going down as Britain’s shortest-serving PM.
2. A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE
CURRENTLY, the PM is safe from a Tory leadership challenge for 12 months.
Under severe pressure from MPs, 1922 committee chairman Graham Brady changes the rules. Truss fights the vote but loses and is out.
3. CORONATION OR ELECTION
THE 1922 committee has two options if Truss is forced out — limit a vote on who should be PM to just MPs, which would require a rule change — or a contest with party members which takes weeks.
4. PM TRUSS LIMPS ON
THE PM digs in and Tory MPs — unable to decide a mechanism for getting rid of her or who replaces her — keep her in post.
She limps on hoping the economy picks up and she gets to fight the next election.
BIG FIVE RIVALS FOR JOB
RISHI Sunak is an early favourite to replace Liz Truss as the next PM — according to the bookies, writes Ryan Sabey.
The ex-Chancellor, pipped in the leadership race last month, could be in line for swift return to Downing Street as Liz faces calls to quit. Next in is the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, according to Betfair.
RISHI SUNAK: 7/4
THE ex-Chancellor was early favourite for the last leadership race but was undone by anger at his role in the downfall of Boris Johnson. Not given up on No10.
JEREMY HUNT: 9/2
ONLY secured 18 votes when he stood to replace BoJo this year.
Insists he doesn’t want the job anymore but is now acting as de-facto PM.
BEN WALLACE: 5/1
THE Defence Secretary didn’t stand in the last PM race, but the former Scots Guards infantryman is seen by many Tory MPs as a competent and a safe pair of hands.
PENNY MORDAUNT: 9/1
CAME third in the last leadership race but has not given up on the top job.
Has won fans with combative performances in the House of Commons.
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SUELLA BRAVERMAN: 33/1
THE Home Secretary has already had a row with Liz Truss over calls to cut immigration numbers.
As an anti-woke Brexiteer, Suella is popular with the Tory right.