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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Liam Thorp

Who will replace Liz Truss as Prime Minister: Names in the frame after PM resigns

Liz Truss has resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after just over six weeks in charge.

Ms Truss has stepped down as the leader of the Conservative Party and will leave Downing Street in a week.

It brings to the end a short but chaotic few weeks in post for Ms Truss, whose economic plans led to a huge crisis. Last week she sacked her Chancellor and ally Kwasi Kwarteng and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt, who set about immediately reversing the vast majority of her plans.

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In terms of what happens now, Ms Truss met with Tory backbench chairman Sir Graham Brady today. She said the two agreed that there will now be a leadership election within the next week. Ms Truss will remain as Prime Minister until a successor is chosen to replace her.

So who could that be? We've had a look at who the main contenders will be.

Rishi Sunak

A clear favourite, the former Chancellor led the way in terms of MPs selections in the previous leadership election, which only took place this summer.

It was Sunak's resignation that started the avalanche of departing ministers that forced Boris Johnson out. He felt he was best placed to take over but lost out badly in a vote of Tory members to Liz Truss.

It is widely expected that he will stand again now and if the choice is only down to Members of Parliament, he stands a very good chance.

Penny Mordaunt

Another who did well in the summer leadership race. Ms Morduant, the current Leader of the House of Commons, came third, behind Mr Sunak and Ms Truss.

It was a strong performance from the former Defence Secretary and she is being tipped for another run at the top job. There have been reports that Ms Mordaunt has already been in talks with Mr Sunak about some form of pact to replace Ms Truss.

Ben Wallace

A very popular figure across the Conservative Party, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace's reputation has soared during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He was urged to stand to replace Boris Johnson in the summer and will certainly be spoken to now by MPs who will see him as a potentially unifying figure.

Suella Braverman

The controversial Home Secretary was another to put herself forward to replace Boris Johnson in the summer, but was eliminated after the second ballot of MPs.

Having backed Liz Truss, she was made Home Secretary before resigning yesterday over a security breach. Braverman represents a hard right group of MPs and many will feel this is not the right fit at this time of crisis.

Other names in the frame

While some had today mooted the possibility that new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt could take on the top job, he has reportedly said he will not run. Others have speculated that former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson or even Theresa May could be brought back into the fold - but this seems unlikely.

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