As Liz Truss embarked on a flurry of talks to salvage her tottering premiership on Monday amid warnings that she was “in office but not in power”, there was speculation that a tacit pact had been entered into between a Penny Mordaunt ally and Rishi Sunak, The Times reported.
Sunak was allegedly approached by an ally of the leader of the House of Commons last week to discuss whether he would consider becoming Chancellor again in a Mordaunt government, should Truss be forced to resign. The suggestion is believed to have been rebuffed by Sunak, with a second source acknowledging the private conversation took place, but denying there had been a formal offer.
“Like everyone else, Rishi wanted the party to come together and he is fully focused on his constituency work,” someone in the former Chancellor's camp told the publication.
According to one of Sunak’s supporters, the Conservative politician still wants to lead the party.
“We’re actually going to have higher taxes and lower spending than if we’d had Rishi Sunak. None of the other potential candidates carry that economic credibility with them. He still wants it,” the insider was cited as saying.
Sunak - this summer’s runner-up in the race for Downing Street - Mordaunt and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace have all reportedly been eyed as a potential replacement for embattled Truss.
Mordaunt, who has expressed public support for Truss, wrote in The Daily Telegraph on Monday that the country needed “stability, not a soap opera". During her appearance in the Commons on Monday she also denied that the PM was “hiding under a desk” from the scrutiny of MPs, saying that "very serious matters as well as economic matters" had prevented Truss from taking questions in parliament.
One MP revealed to The Times that a supporter of Mordaunt had weighed in on potential successors to Truss, saying:
“It can’t be Rishi because the members have rejected him, and he’s a hard sell in the red wall. Penny is a very good communicator, which you saw in the House today.”
The other mooted unity candidate, Wallace, shot down speculations, telling the publication:
“I want to be the Secretary of State for Defence until I finish. I love the job I do and we have more to do. I want the Prime Minister to be the Prime Minister and I want to do this job.” He also rebuked his Conservative colleagues for playing “political parlor games”.
As speculation regarding the likely No 10 replacement swirls, with a Downing Street source acknowledging to media outlets that the Prime Minister faced a “critical 24/48 hours”, Truss said on Monday that she was ready to “accept responsibility and say sorry for the mistakes that have been made”.
Speaking to the BBC, she said she had gone "too far and too fast", and blamed “circumstances” for the dramatic U-turn on her previous promises. Despite disastrous polls, she added: “I will lead the Conservatives into the next general election.”
Released on Monday, the latest survey by pollster Redfield & Wilton put the Tories 36 points behind Labour.
Truss gave the interview after her new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who previously made two failed attempts for the Tory Party leadership, gave a press conference to announce more tax and spending changes.
Hunt announced the latest U-turns on his predecessor Kwarteng's 23 September mini-budget, scrapping plans to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20 percent to 19 percent from April next year and saying the Energy Price Guarantee scheme to cap soaring gas and electricity bills could be cut after just six months, rather than the two years pledged by Liz Truss just last Wednesday.
The Chancellor later appeared on Sky News, insisting Truss will still be Prime Minister at Christmas, despite five Conservative MPs publicly calling for her to quit. Hunt begged colleagues to "give her a chance," and ruled out that he might replace Truss.
'Untenable' Position
Sir Charles Walker, the former vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee, was the fifth Tory MP to call for Truss to step down, telling Sky News on Monday:
“Her position is untenable. She has put colleagues, the country, through a huge amount of unnecessary pain and upset and worry. We don’t need a disruptor in No 10. We need a uniter.”
And earlier, Angela Richardson, the MP for Guildford, appeared on Times Radio to say: "I just don’t think that it’s tenable that she can stay in her position any longer.”
Conservative MPs Crispin Blunt, Andrew Bridgen and Jamie Wallis have all publicly urged Truss to leave office. Former minister Mark Garnier said Truss was "in office but is not in power", adding:
"The question is do we give her a chance or do we rip the plaster off?"
On Monday, Truss missed a Commons grilling to meet with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee. Although No 10 insisted that the meeting was “planned”, any visit from Brady to a PM is regarded as “pivotal”. Furthermore, The Daily Telegraph cited sources as saying that Brady is expected to see Truss within the next 36 hours again. Afterwards, he would supposedly report back to the 1922 executive at their meeting on 19 October ahead of the 5pm meeting that same day for all backbench Tory MPs.
The meeting late on Monday of the officers of the committee allegedly decided there was no need to change the rules that prevent any new no confidence vote in the PM until next September.
Truss’ performance at Prime Minister’s Questions later this week is perceived as a “make or break” appearance, with one source cited as saying:
“If she does well, she can steady the ship - if not, things will deteriorate rapidly.”