Truss will not last until Christmas, say Conservative MPs
Conservative MPs believe Liz Truss could be forced out of office before the end of the year.
A former minister predicted that without a U-turn on her minibudget, Truss would no longer be prime minister by November. Another MP gave her until December.
George Freeman, a former minister, called for an emergency meeting of Cabinet ministers to agree to a plan B and said the government was in ‘‘serious crisis’’.
Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, and Julian Smith, a former Cabinet minister, urged Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor of the exchequer, to back down on their fiscal plans, while the Conservative chairman of the Commons Treasury select committee demanded that Kwarteng publish economic forecasts sooner than planned in an attempt to soothe markets.
Truss infuriated some MPs yesterday with a round of interviews with local radio and television stations in which she signalled that she would hold firm to her plans. Two MPs in regions where Truss gave interviews said constituents had complained about her performance on the radio.
One MP was especially angry because they said they had urged Truss’s team to brief her on local problems before the interviews, but that she then appeared unprepared. The MP said: ‘‘She’ll be gone by Christmas. I can’t see this lasting . . . I just think it’s bloody catastrophic. I think she should be thrown out, I really do.’’
Even though Truss’s removal at this point would be effectively unprecedented, some Conservative MPs want a confidence vote. Under the rules, she cannot be subjected to one until she has been Conservative leader for a year. She was elected by Conservative members only 25 days ago.
However, MPs believe that if enough letters were sent to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922
Committee, to reach a ‘‘critical mass’’, the committee would change its rules to allow a vote.
‘‘Letters are flying in like there’s no tomorrow,’’ one MP said. A senior backbencher said: ‘‘I wouldn’t get hung up about the 12-month rule. I’d say she won’t make it to Christmas.’’
A YouGov poll yesterday showed Labour had a 33-point lead over the Conservatives.