A TORY MP has said that the threshold for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister would be reached “in a couple of hours” if the 1922 Committee changed the rules.
Following a disastrous appearance in front of the Committee yesterday, Truss’s position is coming under increasing pressure.
Both her and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng are facing calls to re-think the measures which were introduced in the mini-Budget.
In a post on social media, associate political editor at The Times Henry Zeffman said: “ ‘If the 22 changed the rules, we’d hit the threshold for a confidence vote in a couple of hours’, a Tory MP tells me.
"If the 22 changed the rules, we'd hit the threshold for a confidence vote in a couple of hours", a Tory MP tells me. Safe to say the mood is sulphurous in parliament this morning
— Henry Zeffman (@hzeffman) October 13, 2022
“Safe to say the mood is sulphurous in parliament this morning.”
Could Liz Truss face a vote of no confidence?
Under the current rule book, the PM cannot face a confidence vote until a full year has elapsed since the start of her leadership.
However, it seems there is a lot of appetite among MPs to have this changed given the increasing pressure Truss is coming under.
In order to force a vote, 15% of the parliamentary party – currently 54 Tory MPs – have to submit a letter of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady – the chairman of the 1922 Committee.
Once this threshold has been met, a no confidence vote is triggered.
What is a vote of no confidence?
The vote itself involves all MPs who decide whether they want the government to continue.
It can trigger a general election and could see a new prime minister appointed.
Boris Johnson previously faced a vote of no confidence which he was able to survive, although he ultimately resigned following a series of Cabinet resignations.
Could Liz Truss resign?
It seems highly unlikely that Truss would resign having only been appointed last month.
However, if the mood continues to shift against the PM, Tory MPs could feasibly force a leadership challenge.
This would then trigger another Tory leadership contest, with the winner taking over both the party and the position of prime minister.
Why has faith in Truss collapsed?
A recent YouGov poll showed that Liz Truss is more unpopular than Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn ever was.
Her and her Chancellor’s disastrous mini-Budget led to intervention from the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund.
Whilst the recent announcement saw the cap on banker bonuses scrapped, Truss is coming under increasing pressure to raise benefits in line with inflation as the cost-of-living crisis worsens.
One anonymous Tory minister told ITV’s political editor Robert Peston that Tory MPs would prefer a general election and lose their seats to the current economic crisis.
Elsewhere, another “Truss supporter” told TalkTV’s political editor Kate McCann that the PM is “carboard and we just have to accept that”.
They added: “We’re going to lose [the next election]. Nothing makes any difference now, we’re f****d”.
