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LONDON. – Plots to oust Liz Truss as British prime minister are intensifying at break-neck speed, but there remains neither a mechanism to force her from office nor, so far, an acceptable unity candidate that would bring the Conservative party back together.
Truss’s authority seems to be vanishing fast after the latest U-turn frenzy on her disastrous economic programme which saw her new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt virtually rip it all up before her eyes on Monday. There are, however, still a number of possible scenarios that could prove fatally destabilising for her premiership.
Believing that Truss has lost the ability to pull her premiership back from the brink, more Tory MPs than the half dozen who have already gone public could call openly for her to quit.
Fearful that the longer they wait, the less chance there is to repair the damage she has done to the Conservative brand, backbenchers and ministers decide that moving quickly is the cleanest course of action.
With vacant roles on the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs filled, the “men in grey suits” may bow to pressure to change internal party rules and allow a no-confidence ballot as the number of letters calling for a vote pile up – well exceeding the 15 percent threshold that would normally trigger one.
Graham Brady, the 1922 Committee chairman, who has been having regular meetings with Truss, could instead go to her a final timse – as he did with Boris Johnson and Theresa May – and tell the prime minister to fall on her sword or be forced out the hard way.
Rumours are rife in Westminster about Tory MPs considering standing down from parliament – jumping before they are pushed in a potential election wipeout.
They believe their stock is still relatively high while the party is in government, but if Labour enters power then their value to future employers looking for key contacts and policy insight would be diminished significantly. With that in mind, some are weighing up triggering a byelection, which could potentially cause Truss some major headaches. – Guardian.com
Online Reporter