Liz Truss was hit by an open revolt of Conservative MPs on Thursday as her grip on power appeared to be weakening by the hour.
A growing number of Tory MPs went public this morning calling for the Prime Minister to quit after she sacked her Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and extraordinary scenes of turmoil in the Commons over a vote on fracking. One London MP urged her to speak to her Cabinet about a “dignified exit”.
More than a dozen MPs had broken cover by 10.30am to urge Ms Truss to stand down, with far more saying privately that she should go. In unprecedented turmoil at Westminster for a Prime Minister in No10 for just 44 days, one senior Tory MP said early this morning she had “12 hours” to save her administration. Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, doing the morning media round, defended Ms Truss but would only go so far as saying that she would still be Prime Minister on Monday.
The latest mayhem at the heart of Government started at 1.33am when a Conservative source announced that Chief Whip Wendy Morton and her deputy Craig Whittaker “remained” in post despite some Tory MPs believing that they had resigned on Wednesday night over the chaotic vote on fracking.
Shortly after 7am, Tory MP Simon Hoare, chairman of the Commons Northern Ireland Committee, made clear the scale of the threat to Ms Truss’s leadership. “Can the ship be turned around? Yes, but there is about 12 hours to do it,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Today, tomorrow are crunch days.” A few hours later, Hendon Conservative MP Matthew Offord told the EveningStandard: “I can’t see the situation being sustainable. She does need to sit down and discuss it with her Cabinet and with others to manage some kind of dignified exit.” More MPs then went public with calls for Ms Truss to resign.
South West Devon MP Gary Streeter tweeted: “Sadly, it seems we must change leader but even if the angel Gabriel now takes over, the parliamentary party has to urgently rediscover discipline, mutual respect and teamwork if we are to (i) govern the UK well and (ii) avoid slaughter at the next election.”
Sheryll Murray, MP for South East Cornwall, added: “I had high hopes for Liz Truss but after what happened last night her position has become untenable and I have submitted a letter to Sir Graham Brady [chair of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs].”
Crawley MP Henry Smith told Times Radio that the Tory Party “can’t delay” in replacing Ms Truss.
He added: “We need new leadership…she should do the honourable thing and say that her premiership has made the wrong calls not just once or twice, but consistently.”
Former Cabinet minister David Davis said: “I’m very sad about Liz. But I think it’s going to be inevitable now that we will end up with a confidence vote (in the PM).” He believes a new Tory leader could be chosen within two weeks in a fast-tracked process, including by putting a choice of two MPs to Conservative party members.
Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Miriam Cates told Times Radio: “It seems untenable… and yes, I do think it’s time for the Prime Minister to go”.
St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double said: “It’s time for her to announce that she’s going to step down and allow us to find someone else… I will be writing a letter to the Prime Minister later today to just make that absolutely clear.”
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle announced an inquiry into claims of bullying during the fracking vote, which whips had told Tory MPs was a “confidence motion” in the Government. Dozens of Tory MPs did not back the Government in the vote but, as of mid-morning, it was not clear if they would be suspended from the parliamentary party.
