Liz Truss is holding crucial meetings with moderate Tory MPs this week in a bid to stave off a leadership coup, amid claims Conservative rebels are preparing to oust her.
The embattled UK’s PM will meet with the 100-strong One Nation group of centrist Conservatives tonight in a bid to win round a sizeable chunk of the parliamentary party.
It comes as Tory MPs will try to oust Miss Truss this week, despite Downing Street warning that it could trigger a general election.
Mutinous backbench MPs are pressing Tory shop steward Sir Graham Brady to tell the Prime Minister her time is up, or change party rules to allow a vote of confidence in her leadership, Daily Mail reported today.
As the Tories descended into yet another civil war, three MPs broke ranks to publicly call on Miss Truss to resign just six weeks into her premiership. Former minister Crispin Blunt said: ‘The game is up and it’s now a question as to how the succession is managed.’
Sir Graham, chairman of the 1922 Committee, is said to be resisting an immediate putsch, arguing that the PM and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt deserve the chance to set out their economic strategy in a Budget on October 31.
But sources say that more than 100 MPs are ready to submit letters of no confidence in Miss Truss in a bid to force Sir Graham’s hand.
Some junior ministers are also discussing a wave of co-ordinated resignations of the kind that eventually forced out Boris Johnson. Rebels have even discussed holding a public vote of censure if Sir Graham refuses to act.
One MP involved in discussions about removing the PM said: ‘She has lost the confidence of the markets and she is haemorrhaging support.
