British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation after six weeks in office. She had the shortest tenure in British history:
She said: “I recognise though that given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”I have therefore spoken to His Majesty The King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady. We have agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week.”This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our countries economic stability and national security. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.”
The 1922 Committee consists of all backbench Conservative Members of Parliament:
Dubbed “the men in grey suits”, the influential committee of backbenchers sets the rules for selecting and changing the Conservative Party’s leader.If MPs want to get rid of their current leader, it’s “The 1922” that collect the votes to do so.In order for Tory MPs to force a vote of no confidence and choose a new leader, 15% of MPs have to send a letter to Sir Graham.Under the current rules, the PM is safe from a confidence vote for a year after entering office – but the rules could be changed.Whether this happens is likely to depend on how many Tory MPs submit letters of no confidence in Truss’s leadership.
So it was a big deal when the chairman of the committee went to 10 Downing Street this morning.
The six weeks were filled with chaos. Thank you, BBC, for the summary:
The number of Tory MPs publicly calling for her resignation is now in double-digits, with an unconfirmed number of no-confidence letters delivered to Brady. The 1922 Committee is due to meet today.Voting chaosIt follows chaos in Parliament last night as Tory MPs tried to seek clarity on whether a vote on fracking was being treated as a confidence motion in the government. A Labour MP claimed to have seen “clear bullying and intimidation” to get Tory MPs to vote with the government.Afterwards, senior MP Charles Walker told the BBC that the evening’s events left him “livid”.The House of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle has since launched an investigation into reports of misconduct in the voting lobbies, reminding politicians to treat each other with respect.ResignationsConfusion reigned again as to whether the chief whip and her deputy had quit following the scenes last night. No 10 later clarified they were still in their roles.But Home Secretary Suella Braverman was most definitely out, criticising Truss in a brutal resignation letter. Grant Shapps is in, with the UK’s third home secretary in eight weeks expressing his “great honour” to be appointed.Mini-budgetThe chaos stems back to last month’s mini-budget, delivered by another cabinet casualty, former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.In response to the turmoil in the markets, Truss sacked him and agreed for new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to scrap almost all tax cuts announced in the original budget.This aimed to stabilise the economy – but the announcement that the energy price guarantee would be reigned in from April instead of lasting for two years led to further concerns that millions of families will struggle as the cost of living hits a 40-year high.
New chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he is not running for the position. He took over after Truss fired Kwasi Kwarteng over the outrage of their mini-budget.
How about Boris Johnson?
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