She will only have spent 45 days at the head of the country. This is the shortest tenure of a British Prime Minister in the country’s history. Conservative Liz Truss, widely criticized for her radical economic and political positions, resigned Thursday, October 20.
>> STORY FRANCEINFO. How resigning Prime Minister Liz Truss plunged the country into crisis in a matter of weeks.
Who will take the reins of the country? While the Conservative Party is setting up an accelerated process internally, the opposition parties, in ambush, are calling for an early general election. Franceinfo gives you an update on the situation on the other side of the Channel.
Eight days to find a successor to Liz Truss
On the announcement of the resignation of their leader, the Conservative Party quickly organized an internal primary, which should quickly lead to the new appointment of their leader. His name will be revealed by October 28, according to Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee, which brings together Conservative MPs responsible for organizing the party. For the suitors, the deadlines are even shorter: they have until Monday, at 1 p.m., to obtain 100 sponsorships from Conservative MPs. This threshold effectively limits the race to a maximum of three candidates, the Tories having 357 deputies in the House of Commons.
The number of referrals required is even “unpublished, to ensure that there are as few candidates as possible or perhaps even only one from Monday”, analyzes journalist Richard Place, UK correspondent for France Inter. If by chance a single name did not emerge during the process, the deputies would have to agree on two candidates. They would then be decided by an online vote of the 170,000 party members by October 28. In the meantime, Liz Truss remains in power.
An uncertain succession in a country in crisis
No candidate from the Conservative Party has yet officially presented himself, but names are circulating in the spheres of the House of Commons. Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak (beaten by Liz Truss in the previous vote), former Defense Minister Penny Mordaunt and even… ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who resigned in July.
The person who will replace Liz Truss will have to face a tense social and economic context. Inflation exceeds 10%, in particular with soaring energy prices. It is hitting British households hard. Strikes to demand, among other things, a rise in wages have multiplied in recent months.
Opposition parties in ambush
If the Conservative Party is rushing, it is because it knows it is weakened. Admittedly, he currently has an absolute majority in the House of Commons (one of the two chambers of the British Parliament), but the latest polls give him a big loser in the event of new elections, in particular against the Labor Party. On September 29, the YouGov polling institute gave Labor a 33-point lead.
Reacting to the resignation of Liz Truss, Labor leader Keir Starmer called on Thursday for a snap general election. “Britain cannot afford Tory chaos. My Labor government will provide the stability and leadership needed. For our economy, for growth, for workers,” he wrote on Twitter.
Britain can’t afford the Tories’ chaos.
My Labor government will provide the stability and leadership needed.
For our economy. For growth. For working people.
General Election, now.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 20, 2022
“We don’t need another Tory Prime Minister teetering from crisis to crisis,” went up on the same social network (content in English) Liberal Democrat leader Edward Davey also calling for parliamentary elections and ousting the Tories “out of power”. “This is the most chaotic and incompetent government I have seen in my entire life,” did he get annoyed in another tweet (content in English).
For her part, the Scottish Prime Minister, the separatist Nicola Sturgeon, deplored “a total mess” of which UK residents “pay the price”. The holding of legislative elections is, according to her, “a democratic necessity”.