Tories push ‘best bet’ Wallace as next leader
DESPERATE Tory MPS are trying to persuade Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to replace Liz Truss as PM.
Mr Wallace, 52, was an early favourite in the contest to succeed Boris Johnson but in July he announced he would not be running because “my focus is on my current job and keeping this great country safe”.
But asked at the Birmingham party conference earlier this month whether he would consider running for leader, Mr Wallace said: “I don’t rule it out.”
MPS in despair at the chaos Ms Truss is causing are turning to Mr Wallace as they think he is the only competent minister in her Cabinet.
One plotter told the Sunday People: “Most of us now favour a coronation for Ben. He’s the best we’ve got. But he might need some persuading to take the job.”
Tory MPS want backbench shop
steward Sir Graham Brady to go to Ms Truss this week and persuade her to walk away.
MPS have now dismissed the idea of letting Ms Truss stick it out or trying to get Mr Johnson back into Downing Street.
One said: “Neither of those options work if we want to save the country and the party from disaster.”
Another added: “Boris is not the solution and Liz Truss is not the answer.”
Another plan under discussion is to turn to Ms Truss’s leadership final MP round rivals Mr Sunak and Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.
As Ms Truss enters her 41st day in office she could become the shortest serving PM in British history. The record is held by George Canning who lasted 118 days in
1827 before dying.
Senior Tory and former Home Office adviser Claire Pearsall said:
“If the PM is to survive the week she must come up with a clear plan at the beginning of it to get us out of this mess.”
And Richard Tice of Reform UK said: “Liz Truss clinging to power would make her one of the most fraudulent PMS in British history.”