From the discredit of the ‘Tories’ to the “cry” for Boris Johnson: What comes after the resignation of Liz Truss?

Liz Truss she couldn’t help but become the shortest-lived prime minister in British history. One day after promising that she would fight to the end, the conservative Ella resigned from the position she held for only 45 days, an imminent way out in the face of the crisis unleashed by a controversial economic plan that was her ruin.

READ ALSO: Liz Truss resigns as UK Prime Minister after 45 days in office

“I cannot fulfill the mandate on which I was elected”, declared the president. For six weeks, the uncertainty of the financial markets due to his policies fueled the voices that called for an exit from the opposition and that soon began to be replicated within his own Conservative Party.

The Truss debacle began at the end of September, when he presented a package of economic measures that proposed massive tax cuts and colossal support for energy bills that were received with uncertainty in the markets.

The pressure was such Truss was forced to scrap his proposal and change his finance minister, prompting some Conservative lawmakers to call for his replacement. The new representative of the Treasury portfolio, Jeremy Hunt, scrapped most of his tax reduction plan.

On Wednesday, the crisis deepened with the resignation of Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who resigned after making the “mistake” of sharing confidential information through her personal phone.

Everything led to the imminent resignation of Truss as prime minister, although she will remain in office for a few more days while the Conservative Party battle to find a new leader and thus avoid elections, which, according to polls, would mean a certain defeat in Labor.

Truss lasted a month and a half in office. (Photo: AFP) (DANIEL LEAL/)

Javier Carbonell, associate professor at the Paris Institute of Political Sciences, Sciences Po, says that Truss’s departure was imminent. “His government won the elections within the Conservative Party with a program and then had to turn it on its head. In the United Kingdom such a government is not maintained, Truss He had no alternative but to resign. It was the most obvious solution at this point”, he tells El Comercio.

blow to the conservatives

The question is what will happen now. Truss’s resignation will lead the Conservative Party to organize an internal vote between now and the end of next week to appoint his replacement, a task that is expected to be complex.

“The most obvious challenge for the Conservative Party is to find a leader who can unify the party. The party is totally divided, especially on economic issues, and that’s important because now the economy is much more important than before because of the war in Ukraine and inflation. Getting a leader who manages to unify the party is quite complicated”says Carbonell.

The situation has put in check the Conservative Partywhich has always sold the image of a competent party, something that they emphasized electorally against the Labor Party.

Carbonell explains that what we are seeing now is “how is the Conservative Party that is economically incompetent and how are the most liberal policies that are proving to be unsuccessful”.

“It must be understood that the economic context after the pandemic is quite different from what it was before, just as inflation and the cost of energy due to the war in Ukraine make greater state intervention necessary. All this has finally touched something fundamental for the Conservative Party: its reputation.“, Explain.

In short, what is seen now is that there is division on economic issues and little competition, two elements that the Conservative Party considers key to its prestige.

Looking for a new leader

In search of a replacement Truss The name of the former Minister of Economy sounds strong Rishi Sunak, as well as that of the conservative leader in the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, third in the last ‘tories’ primaries. Rumors have also spread about the possible return of Boris Johnson, who was forced to resign less than four months ago amid scandals.

Rishi Sunak, former Chancellor of the Exchequer of Great Britain. (Photo: AFP) (SUSANNAH IRELAND/)

In a poll among Tory affiliates published this week, 32% of the party’s rank and file want him back in power, while 23% prefer Sunak.

Carbonell explains that on the more economically responsible side, Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, who lost in the last elections and who represent a liberal current that is not as exaggerated as that of Truss.

“The question is whether they are going to present a joint candidacy or not, which will have to be decided in the coming days. And then on the more conservative side, the name that has been heard the most is Boris Johnson, who is clearly a very divisive figure within the party because he was fired a few months ago. So right now the moderate wing would have the upper hand, but it’s split between Sunak and Mordaunt, while the conservative wing has no candidate.“, considers.

Source: Elcomercio