What happens if Liz Truss resigns today?
Prime Minister Liz Truss has had the worst start to her premiership than any other PM. And the last 48 hours in Westminster have been chaos.
There are rumours that the Liz Truss era is fast approaching its end, and many are plotting to oust her from No 10.
She has only been in the job since September 5.
In that time, the Queen died, Liz Truss crashed the economy, her mini-budget has been ripped up and replaced with policies that she campaigned against during the leadership race, she fired her chancellor and replaced him with a Rishi Sunak supporter, her home secretary resigned and offered up a scathing letter and there were reports of bullying from her cabinet at last night’s Commons vote.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was fired after the mini-budget spooked the financial markets. Many argue that Truss should have gone with him as it was her financial vision as his.
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How does a Tory leadership election work?
According to the 1922 Committee, an incumbent Tory PM cannot face a confidence vote within their first year on the job. But there is speculation that this rule could be changed.
After that 12-month period, to trigger a contest vote, 15 per cent of Tory MPs would have to submit letters of no confidence to 1922 Committee chair, Sir Graham Brady. If at least 50 per cent of MPs then vote no-confidence in their leader, a leadership election begins.
Tory MPs who want to be in the race for the top job will then seek nominations from their colleagues. There will be a series of ballots which will see all the candidates whittled down to just two. The rank and file of the Conservative party will then choose the winner.
Boris Johnson won the general election in 2019 and although he was ousted and replaced with Truss there is no requirement for the Conservative party to call a general election.
Some MPs are understood to want to avoid putting the vote back to the ordinary members of the party. The Telegraph says some MPs want the parliamentary party to choose Truss’s successor, though others warn that this would require a complicated rule change.
This aligns with newspaper reports that say the Tories want to put Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt in office on a “golden ticket” type deal.
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What happens if Liz Truss resigns today?
If Liz Truss resigns as Conservative leader and Prime Minister today, a leadership contest would begin.
Those wanting to get into No 10 would begin trying to get support for their campaign.
However, it is possible that the Tory parliamentary party could rally around a single candidate for the leadership. This would perhaps be seen as a better option as it will avoid time-wasting.
If Truss does not resign and attempts to cling on to power against the will of MPs and peers, the 1922 Committee could and would likely change the rules to allow an early challenge to her (changing the 12-month rule). This would likely see her removal from both leadership of the party and as prime minister.
Can we have a general election?
Labour and Liberal Democrats are amongst those calling for an early general election. But the government is not legally obliged to hold another general election before January 2025 – surely to the delight of Conservatives as the latest opinion polls suggest the Tories would lose most of their seats.
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Housebuilders should lower buyers’ bills with solar panels on every roof, renewable energy charity and company chiefs have urged.
The seven chief executives and directors have called on Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to back the Sunshine Bill when MPs debate it in the new year.
If MPs back the draft legislation, which the Liberal Democrats’ Max Wilkinson tabled for a debate on January 17, it would bake into law a standard for newbuilds to come with solar panels on their roofs.
Mr Wilkinson said the proposal is “just really, really obvious” amid efforts to reduce carbon emissions and lower costs.
“Taking this one simple step would pay back to new homeowners, via lower energy bills, in just a few short years, helping protect homeowners from high and fluctuating energy bills,” according to the letter.
It continued: “Pressure on the wider grid would be reduced and the likely outcome would be a reduction in the country’s emissions too, in line with climate change targets.”
Its signatories, among them Ecotricity chief executive Asif Rehmanwala and E.On Next director of residential newbuild Matthew Hart, also wrote: “The twin crises of high energy bills and climate change present this country with many challenges, but there are also a number of solutions that could be relatively easily implemented.
“One of those solutions is the inclusion of solar energy on newbuild residential accommodation.”
Mr Wilkinson said: “Following the shortest day of the year (Saturday), it’s time the Government finally commits to a sunnier future.”
He told the PA news agency: “One of the things that I think is just really, really obvious is that when we’re building new homes, they should be built to high standards of energy efficiency and that they should include renewable energy generation, because that’s good for the planet, but also, it’s really, really good for people’s bills.
“We all know that we’ve had the energy bills crisis over the last few years and fuel bills for households remain stubbornly high, so it seems obvious that we should put solar panels on the roofs of houses, so those bills are going to be lower.”
The MP for Cheltenham in Gloucestershire described adding solar panels to the tune of “a few thousand pounds” as “marginal” against the cost of building a property, which “pays back to the new homeowner within five or six years anyway, so it really is a win-win”.
Asked how far the Sunshine Bill – formally known as the New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill – could go in tackling climate change, Mr Wilkinson replied: “There are the big international impacts that you’re talking about on climate change, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make those marginal gains locally where we can, particularly when they can have a really profound positive impact on people’s day-to-day lives.”
He said: “All I want this Christmas is for the Government to support the Sunshine Bill. Lower energy bills would be the perfect gift not just for me, but for the nation.”
A Government spokesperson said in an October press release that they “want solar panels on as many new homes as possible, because they are a vital technology to help cut bills for families, boost our national energy security, and help deliver net zero”.
But the press release confirmed a final decision on the amount of solar panels that new homes will typically be expected to include is “yet to be made”, and that it is “a fundamental principle of building regulations that we do not constrain innovation by prescribing any specific technology”.
Mr Miliband previously said he was “very sympathetic” to Mr Wilkinson’s proposal.
Asked about plans for “new homes to come with solar panels on the roof as standard”, Mr Miliband told the Commons last Tuesday: “I am very, very sympathetic to this, and we are in discussions with our colleagues across Government and watch this space.”
Lower housebuyers’ bills with solar panels on newbuild roofs, ministers urged – The Irish News
Lower housebuyers’ bills with solar panels on newbuild roofs, ministers urged – The Irish News
Housebuilders should lower buyers’ bills with solar panels on every roof, renewable energy charity and company chiefs have urged. The seven chief executives and directors
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