Liz Truss resigned on Thursday after just over six tumultuous weeks in the top job, with a new prime minister expected to be in place by the end of next week. The Tories will now scramble to find a replacement, who will become the third leader in two months.
But how has the country found itself losing its prime minister in such a short space of time. And what happens now?
How did we get here?
Liz Truss was elected as Conservative Party leader on September 5 and took over as Prime Minister the following day. Her premiership had barely begun when politics ground to a halt following the death of the Queen.
The pivotal event of her time in office was then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget on September 23, which triggered turmoil in the financial markets and required an emergency intervention by the Bank of England to support Government bonds. A chaotic party conference followed, overshadowed by a U-turn on the policy to scrap the 45p rate of income tax, with daunting poll leads for Labour adding to unease on the Tory benches.
Mr Kwarteng was sacked and replaced by Jeremy Hunt, who junked almost all of the tax cuts which had been a key part of Ms Truss’s appeal to party members. Things seemed to have calmed down until the calamitous events of October 19.
So what happened on Wednesday?
Ms Truss was defiant at Prime Minister’s Questions, insisting “I am a fighter, not a quitter”. But things unravelled in dramatic fashion after that, with Suella Braverman resigning as home secretary over a breach of ministerial rules relating to sending an official document from her personal email.
Her resignation letter suggested the real reason for her departure was a blazing row with Ms Truss over immigration policy. It raised “serious concerns” about the Government and its “commitment to honouring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers”.
On Wednesday evening, there were ugly scenes in the Commons as Tory MPs were ordered to vote against a Labour motion on fracking. Accusations were levelled against several Cabinet ministers of “manhandling” colleagues into the “no” lobby.
Chief Whip Wendy Morton was rumoured to have resigned. However No 10 confirmed she remained in place.
What happened then?
Pressure on Ms Truss continued to mount on Thursday, with the list of Tory MPs publicly demanding her resignation expanding. At around noon, it emerged the embattled Prime Minister was in talks with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, who was said to have been amassing letters of no confidence from disgruntled MPs.
Shortly thereafter, it was announced she would be giving a statement in Downing Street. At around 1.30pm, Ms Truss stepped up to the lectern outside the famous black door and said she had told the King she was resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
She said she recognised she “cannot deliver the mandate” which Tory members gave her a little over six weeks ago when she replaced Boris Johnson.
What happens next?
In her brief resignation speech, Ms Truss said she will stay on as Prime Minister until a successor is chosen via a leadership election to be completed in the next week. Sir Graham said the process could be concluded by October 28 so the new leader is in place in time for a crucial financial statement on October 31, which is intended to reassure the City of London that the Government has a plan to repair the nation’s finances.
He said there was an expectation that Tory members would be involved in the process, but “I think we’re deeply conscious of the imperative in the national interest of resolving this clearly and quickly”.
The contest to replace Mr Johnson lasted longer than Ms Truss’s premiership, paralysing the Government at a time of a cost-of-living crisis. The Conservative Party is expected to release more details on the process at 5pm on Thursday.
Will Conservative Party members definitely have a say?
No. It would be possible for the 1922 Committee to engineer the rules to ensure that only candidates with a very large number of MPs supporting them could go through – something which could, in effect, result in a coronation if the threshold was so high that only a single contender emerged. That would avoid the need for a lengthy contest involving party members across the country casting votes.
Sir Graham remained vague on the matter He told reporters: “The party rules say there will be two candidates unless there is only one candidate.”
Are there any other scenarios?
When David Cameron quit, the leadership contest did not go to a vote of party members as Theresa May was left unopposed following Andrea Leadsom’s withdrawal from the race. However MPs had taken part in a series of votes to get to the final two.
In 2003, there was no contest but instead a coronation as Michael Howard took the job unopposed. But finding a unity candidate in the current Tory Party would appear to be a tall order.
Who could run to succeed Ms Truss?
Ms Truss’s decision to step down will trigger a scramble among Tory leadership contenders who will face a daunting task to revive the party’s fortunes. Allies of former leader Mr Johnson pushed for him to make a comeback, despite being forced out earlier this year, while Rishi Sunak, who defeated Ms Truss among MPs in the last contest but lost out among party members, also has supporters at Westminster.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was quick to rule himself out as he focuses on calming the financial markets, while Michael Gove will also sit out the contest. Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, viewed as a potential leadership contender after coming third among MPs in the last contest, said she would “keep calm and carry on”.
Other names bandied around as potential successors have included Ms Braverman, Ben Wallace, Kit Malthouse, Grant Shapps and Sajid Javid.
Defence Secretary Mr Wallace, a popular figure within the party, has insisted he wants to remain in his current job. Ms Braverman could have support from MPs on the Tory right, but she is unlikely to prove a unifying figure.
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