the ways of the ‘tories’ to bring down Truss

Oct. 20 () –

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Liz Truss, is on the tightrope despite having been in power for just over a month. The current regulation theoretically shields her in office but, with the political storm in full swing, her colleagues can resort to different formulas to pressure and even force her eviction from Downing Street.

The prime minister who has been in office for the shortest time was George Canning, in 1827: he governed for only 118 days, although in his case because he died of health problems. At this point, no one dares to assume that Truss will not break this record, as he needs to hold out until January 3, 2023 and the pressure on her is growing by the minute.

His controversial six weeks in power, in which he already adds two departures of key ministers and a failed fiscal plan, have led some of his colleagues to openly ask him to resign. Truss promised on Monday that he would lead the Conservative Party until the next election and on Wednesday, in the House of Commons, he insisted: “I am a fighter, not a quitter.”

The ‘tory’ regulation facilitates the presentation of an internal motion of censure against the prime minister – the formula has already been used against Theresa May and Boris Johnson, the last two leaders – but stipulates a one-year shield from the time she took office . In other words, the motion would not be possible until September 2023.

However, this does not exempt the deputies from sending letters to the 1922 Committee, responsible for activating the process, to make clear their opposition to the current leadership. It would then be possible that the chairman of this group, Graham Brady, would be forced to assume that it is necessary to change the rules and authorize a motion with immediate effect.

This possible change was already the subject of debate after Johnson surpassed the vote that was presented against him in June and that theoretically prevented a second initiative until after a year. The previous ‘premier’, however, ended up resigning as a victim of internal pressure.

Indeed, Truss would have little room for maneuver if, as with his predecessor, it became clear that he lacked support from party heavyweights. In the case of Johnson, the final trigger for the departure was a cascade of resignations within the Government.

LOOKING FOR SUBSTITUTES

If Truss resigned, the ‘Tories’ would be forced to look for a successor as soon as possible. So far, it seems that precisely the lack of a consensus name is one of the main burdens for the conservatives to push the pressure on the head of the Executive to the limit.

Sources quoted by ‘The Times’ recently pointed out the possibility of an agreement for a duo of candidates to share power, specifically pointing to a shadow plan to elevate Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt. Officially, nobody recognizes these maneuvers, although Sky News does point out that the ‘Tories’ can agree on a distribution without having to resort to militancy.

The most risky path for the interests of the Conservative Party is the one that the Labor Party demands day in and day out: call early elections. The polls anticipate that, if the British deputies pronounced themselves, Labor would return to power and the Conservatives would fall to historical lows.

Neither Truss nor the rest of his colleagues advocate taking out the polls, at least not imminently, knowing that they have the losing side and that, with the current electoral calendar on the table, they still have room to try to recompose themselves before early 2025.