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.
READ – PM in crisis: Suella Braverman quits and voting chaos
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.
READ – Can Liz Truss save her job?
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.
LIVE BLOG- PM RESIGNS
Cliff Notes – The best show on television somehow got better
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Character Development: Season five of Slow Horses focuses on the dysfunctional team dynamics, particularly highlighting the character of Roddy Ho, making him more sympathetic despite his flaws.
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Timely Themes: The narrative addresses relevant political issues, exploring how power-hungry individuals exploit tragedy, which adds depth to the storyline.
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Engaging Action: The season features well-choreographed action sequences that blend humour and excitement, showcasing the capabilities of the Slough House agents.
If I were to tell you that the best show on TV is about a farting secret agent who’s more likely to have points on his driving license than a license to kill, would you believe me?
I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t.
Spy stories are so often about sexy and stylish secret agents doing sensational things, not losers rifling through bins and pointlessly pushing paper.
Yet not all spy series are Slow Horses, the best show on TV that’s about to return for a fifth season that may be its best yet.
Based on Mick Herron’s popular Slow Horses book series, this show follows the flatulent and feckless spymaster Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman).
Lamb is the master of Slough House, a sort of administrative purgatory for incompetent British intelligence agents who are forced to do meaningless paperwork like bureaucratic Sisyphi.
Think of it as less John le Carré and more John le Can’t-bé-arsed.
In season five, then, Lamb and his Slow Horses must investigate a series of terror attacks causing chaos in London.
This time, it isn’t River (Jack Lowden) who finds himself at the heart of some fiasco, though.
Instead, it’s the team’s hateable hacker Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) who’s somehow managed to find a girlfriend despite his general awfulness.
Thought-provoking, funny, and exciting, Slow Horses season five is a return to form for Apple TV Plus’s best-kept secret (seriously, how are people still sleeping on this show?).
River flashing his ‘License to be Useless’ again(Picture: Apple TV Plus)How so? Well, firstly, it feels incredibly timely.
Without turning this review into a parliamentarian’s Substack, there’s a political dynamic to this story that feels very relevant to the now.
It’s about malicious and power-hungry people using tragedy to further their own ends, and I appreciated a TV show for daring to tackle an issue many in our political class wouldn’t go near with a ten-foot bargepole.
I also think tonally, the series was an improvement on the fourth season.
You see, while season four was certainly bombastic, it also felt a little disjointed, in large part because the characters were separated for the bulk of the story as River wandered the French countryside looking for his dad (Hugo Weaving).
This meant we had to keep cutting between River and the team back in London, which I didn’t like.
Doesn’t this guy work in Richmond? (Picture: Jack English/Apple TV Plus)It felt muddled and robbed us of one of the best things about Slow Horses, Jackson reminding River what a useless lump he is.
Season five, then, rather cleverly puts the focus back on the dysfunctional team, allowing for the fun interactions between the incompetent agents that make this show such a fun watch.
Of course, that’s not to say some characters don’t get more focus than others, and in this series, we learn an awful lot about Roddy Ho.
Now, if this were a lesser show, this could have been a disaster. Roddy isn’t an easy character to like; in fact, I can honestly say I despise him.
He’s a misogynistic know-it-all with an oversized ego and all the social skills of a mollusc.
Roddy is no one’s favourite character (Picture: Jack English/Apple TV Plus)It’s a testament to the Slow Horses writers’ skills that they can make him a sympathetic and engaging lead (of sorts) for this story without sanding off his rough edges.
You don’t quite come away from season five liking Roddy, but you do respect him more… in a begrudging sort of way.
The same can be said of Lamb. He’s a character whose enigmatic past and misanthropic nature make him a compelling lead for a show like this.
You put up with his grouchiness and alcoholism because you want to know how such a capable agent became the human equivalent of a public urinal.
I bet the person on the other end of the phone can smell his breath (Picture: Jack English/Apple TV Plus)Yet the more time we spend with Lamb, peeling back his stinky onion layers, the more the writers risk demystifying him and robbing him of his musky allure.
Thankfully, five seasons in Lamb remains a baffling puzzle for the most part, thanks to careful scripting and Oldman’s sizzling performance.
That said, it is nice when they do give us a glimmer of the man he is beneath the sweat and nicotine-stained suit.
Now I don’t want you to go away thinking this is all jokes and character work.
This isn’t Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Stand-Up, and there’s plenty of spectacular action to keep your adrenaline up.
It’s not all bad at Slough House, they’ve got a Colin the Caterpillar… oh wait that’s the Tesco one. I’m sorry. (Picture: Jack English/Apple TV Plus)The best sequence in the show comes a few episodes in when the Slow Horses manage to get the jump on some other spies.
It’s a well-choreographed set piece that’s both funny and exciting.
Best of all, it doesn’t feel out of place either. We know by this point the Slough House lot isn’t as useless as the rest of the spy world seems, and it’s nice to see them get a win.
All in all, then Slow Horses season five is a bit of a triumph. I can’t think of a thing I didn’t like about it. The cast is brilliant, the story’s engaging, and the dialogue sharper than ever.
When you can, go watch it. You won’t regret it.
Slow Horses season 5 releases on September 25 on Apple TV Plus
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