Three Conservative MPs became the first to call publicly for Liz Truss to resign as Prime Minister and Tory leader.
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Crispin Blunt, the veteran MP for Reigate, warned that “the game is up†while Andrew Bridgen said: “We cannot carry on like this.â€
Multiple senior figures have called on Truss to carry out a thorough overhaul of her team and policies or risk being rapidly unseated.
Blunt told Channel 4’s Andrew Neil Show: “I think the game is up, and it’s now a question of how the succession is managed.â€
He insisted that the lack of a formal mechanism for MPs to trigger a no-confidence vote would not be an obstacle. He said: “If there is such a weight of opinion in the parliamentary party that we have to have a change, then it will be effected.â€
Blunt said the Conservatives had had a “shocking few weeks†and had been taught a “very harsh lesson†by the markets and an “an even-harsher message†by the opinion polls.
He said Truss couldn’t remain as Prime Minister when there was an election two years’ away, and the voters needed “a proper choiceâ€. A combination of Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Jeremy Hunt in senior leadership positions would be the most successful route, Blunt said, backing Mr Sunak as the “most obvious†candidate for Prime Minister.
When asked how long Truss could survive the fallout, Blunt said: “That is up to the system, my colleagues and everything else, I would hope she realises the game is up tomorrow…we need to get on with it.â€
Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire who previously joined revolts against David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, told The Telegraph: “Our country, its people and our party deserve better.â€
And Bridgend MP Jamie Wallis wrote an open letter calling for the Prime Minister to resign. He cited her economic policy, lack of support for transgender rights and failure to appoint a Welsh MP as Secretary of State for Wales as reasons for his opposition. ■