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Liz Truss’s premiership has come to an end after just 45 days in office. It makes her the UK’s shortest-serving Prime Minister in modern history. At 1:30pm, outside No 10, she announced her resignation in light of the chaos that had marred her Government for the past week.
Quesitons are now being asked over what comes next for both the Conservative Party and the country. So, who do you think should be leading the UK and the Tory party? Vote in our poll.
Speaking to the BBC’s Chris Mason on Monday evening, Ms Truss assured she would lead the Tories into the next election, while also admitting she was “sorry for the mistakes that have been made”.
A lot has happened since then, but her parliamentary colleagues do not seem to be willing to forgive her. The chorus of Conservative MPs calling for her resignation has been growing louder by the day.
Lord David Frost, the former Brexit minister who backed Ms Truss in the summer’s leadership contest, is now among them.
On Thursday morning, Conservative MP Simon Hoare said the PM had “about 12 hours” to turn the ship around and prove she was up to the job.
According a new survey of Conservative Party members – who elected Ms Truss as leader this summer – conducted early this week, 55 percent called for her resignation.
READ MORE: Speaker launches investigation into Truss’s team on ‘bullying’ claims
Under current 1922 Committee rules, new Conservative PMs enjoy a year of immunity from a confidence vote. However, following a crunch meeting between Ms Truss and Sir Graham Brady earlier this week, reports have circulated that the rulebook could be amended to oust the PM far sooner.
Indeed, former Chancellor George Osborne has insisted that there “will be a way” to remove her as PM, predicting she would most likely be gone by Christmas.
This poses the question of who would be best suited to replace her. After incoming Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tore up the PM’s economic agenda in view of restoring calm in the markets, many have suggested he has already taken over.
On Monday, North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale said: “There is real power in Downing Street – but it’s not in Number 10, it’s in Number 11.” He added: “Jeremy Hunt is de facto prime minister at the moment.”
However, according to the same YouGov poll, Mr Hunt was only the sixth most popular choice to replace her.
Boris Johnson, who handed the reigns over to Ms Truss just six weeks ago, was revealed to be the most popular choice to replace her, taking 32 percent of the vote. This view was confirmed in an Express.co.uk poll on October 14, in which 82 percent of readers said they thought he should come back as PM.
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On the other hand, the bookies have tipped Rishi Sunak as the favourite to succeed his leadership contest rival. The former Chancellor’s supporters have been keen to point out that his accusations that Ms Truss’s unfunded tax cut plans constituted “fairytale economics” have been proven right.
In the same YouGov poll, Mr Sunak came second in the list of Tory leader preferences with 23 percent backing.
Penny Mordaunt, who featured at the despatch box earlier this week in the PM’s place has also been touted as a frontrunner. After coming third in the summer’s leadership election, Ms Mordaunt was made Leader of the House of Commons in Ms Truss’s Cabinet.
Other potential candidates include Suella Braverman – who resigned as Home Secretary just yesterday, distancing herself from a Government in which she had “concerns” – her replacement Grant Shapps, Ben Wallace or even former PM Theresa May.
At midday on Thursday, Downing Street confirmed Sir Graham Brady was once again meeting with the PM, raising the possibility of her imminent resignation ever higher.
But what do YOU think? Who should be Prime Minister and lead the Conservative Party? Vote in our poll and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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