Liz Truss is fighting for her political survival, with Tory MPs threatening to oust her and even allies warning she has just days to turn round her premiership despite ripping up her economic strategy and appointing Jeremy Hunt as chancellor.
The prime minister will attempt to shore up her crumbling support by gathering cabinet ministers at No 10 today, then embarking on a series of meetings with mutinous MPs.
After crisis talks at Chequers over their new fiscal plan yesterday, Hunt insisted Truss was still "in charge", as he warned of further public spending cuts and failed to rule out more U-turns on her disastrous mini-budget, including scrapping the ip cut to the income tax base rate.
Ministers were waiting anxiously for the markets to open the first test of whether Truss's decision to sack Kwasi Kwarteng and tear up her mini-budget would be enough-amid fears that sterling could head towards parity with the dollar and that rising bond yields would put upward pressure on mortgage rates.
A poll by Opinium for the Trades Union Congress projected a 1997style landslide for Labour, with the party winning 411 seats. It suggests the Conservatives would lose 219 seats to end up on 137, with the Lib Dems on 39 and SNP on 37. Ten cabinet ministers, including Jeremy Hunt, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Thérèse Coffey, would lose their seats, along with Truss's predecessor, Boris Johnson.
Plotting at Westminster continued at the weekend with a group of senior Tory MPs, many of them supporters of Rishi Sunak, planning to meet tonight for dinner amid speculation that as many as 100 no-confidence letters have been submitted to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee.
The veteran Tory MP Crispin Blunt was the first to go public in calling for Truss to step down. "I think the game is up and it's now a question as to how the succession is managed," he said.
This story is from the October 17, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 17, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Beaumont may step in at RFU if Ilube quits over pay fiasco
Sir Bill Beaumont could be parachuted into the Rugby Football Union as interim chair in the event Tom Ilube falls on his sword amid the botched handling of the executive pay scandal engulfing the game.
'An exciting new era' Everton owners promise return to glory days after £500m deal
The Friedkin Group vowed to restore Everton to their \"rightful place in the Premier League table\" after completing a takeover that brought the turbulent era of Farhad Moshiri to an end.
Friedkin Group brings hope of much-needed stability and ambition
The Friedkin Group's takeover of Everton represents a momentous day for those exhausted and resigned to calamity by the tenure of Farhad Moshiri.
A humble Hamilton hero who was born to score
Ex-coaches in New Zealand on Chris Wood's rise from selfless schoolboy to poster boy at Nottingham Forest
Solanke puts Spurs through despite Forster's blunders
Like a song that changes time signature for the hell of it, like a friend that inexplicably blanks you, like a match report that noodles away for ages instead of just telling you what happened, Tottenham Hotspur remain medically incapable of doing things the simple way.
“The World Cup loss fuelled a fire in me to become the best’
Ellie Kildunne's infectious enthusiasm for the women's game has her dreaming of a Twickenham final in 2025
'Usyk is fighting for his country': Dubois tips Fury to lose rematch
Daniel Dubois, the IBF world heavyweight champion, believes that Oleksandr Usyk will again defeat Tyson Fury in Riyadh tomorrow night.
Coe pledges radical reform in bid for IOC presidency
Sebastian Coe has promised to radically transform the International Olympic Committee if he is elected its next president in March - and says his track record of delivering at the London 2012 Games and at World Athletics shows he is the right choice for the leading job in sport.
Football's new fetish Forget Nicolas Jover and stylish set-piece coaches, bring on the directors of vibes
It's 25 October 2012. Those of you who follow the Austrian regional leagues won't need reminding.
Rush to start work caused enormous cost overruns, says new boss of HS2
Enormous budget overruns on the HS2 high-speed railway have been blamed by its new chief executive on a \"rush to start\", as the Department for Transport admitted it did not know what the line would cost.
