Tough week for Truss in eye of the storm

LIZ TRUSS is facing a torrid week in Westminster as her party plots its next moves.

There is little consensus among her restive backbenchers about what to do next – but everyone is certain something must be done.

Tory MPs are likely to focus on several options: changing party rules to remove her, sending a delegation to beg her to go, selecting a successor – or giving her another chance.

Senior figures, including 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, were on holiday this week as Parliament was not supposed to sit.

He is due to return from his Athens break tomorrow, when he will face calls to decide the Prime Minister’s fate. He is responsible for collating the letters that prompted confidence votes in the two previous prime ministers.

Ms Truss is protected from a challenge for 12 months as new leader, but there is widespread speculation that the rules could be changed if a significant number of letters is submitted.

Many MPs will return to Parliament tomorrow after a weekend speaking to their constituencies and voters, which is likely to have focused their minds. Also in Ms Truss’s diary is an invitation to a meeting of the moderate One Nation Tories tomorrow, which is likely to be testing for her.

On Wednesday, she will face PMQs after a difficult outing last week when she vowed not to cut public spending – an assertion overruled by her new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Meanwhile, Labour plans to hold opposition debates on Wednesday on the contentious subjects of the economy and fracking.

While the party remains divided about what to do next, it could buy Ms Truss some precious time to try to reset her premiership.