UK Conservative Backbenchers Secretly Discussed Having Truss Step Down - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Senior Conservatives from the 1922 Committee of backbenchers have held secret talks discussing ousting British Prime Minister Liz Truss, The Times reports.

The discussions, held on Friday evening, focused on how chair of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers Graham Brady would have to tell Truss to stand aside, the newspaper said on Sunday.

The i newspaper (inews) reported on Sunday that letters demanding a vote of no confidence in Truss may have been written by as many as 100 Conservative backbenchers, although such a vote would be impossible under the current party rules, which state that the leader is safe from a formal challenge for their first year in office.

Nonetheless, a party source told inews that the executive of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers could stage its own vote of no confidence in Truss, even before September 2023, when her first year ends. Graham Brady could then advise that she step down.

A number of parliament members are in favor of UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace replacing Liz Truss as prime minister, according to inews.

According to British media reports, Conservative parliament members Crispin Blunt, Andrew Bridgen and Jamie Wallis have all publicly said that Truss should step down.

British House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt said amid calls to remove the prime minister that the United Kingdom "needs stability not a soap opera." In a Sunday article for The Telegraph, she called for "pragmatism and teamwork" and urged everyone to work with Truss.

On Friday, Kwasi Kwarteng resigned as the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer after reports leaked that he had been fired by Truss over a controversial tax cuts plan for big corporations, which triggered a negative reaction from both markets and the general public.

Kwarteng, who was relieved of his post barely three weeks after his appointment, is now replaced by Jeremy Hunt.

According to The Guardian, on Monday, senior Conservative parliament members will hold a meeting, convened by leading supporters of Rishi Sunak, discussing the prime minister’s future, after Hunt dramatically tore up her economic package. The newspaper said on Saturday that some British parliament members are threatening to publicly call on Truss to stand down over her failed tax-cutting plan.

Last week, Truss promised to reduce public debt amid a flurry of criticism over the government's new plan to support the economy, which includes large-scale tax cuts. After the plan's announcement, the yield on five-year UK government bonds rose to its highest level since 2008, at 4.6%, which meant a decrease in demand for debt securities. Consequently, sterling fell to an all-time low of $1.054 per pound.