The leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons, asserts that “we’re not there yet,” although there are encouraging indicators for a compromise on the Northern Ireland protocol, Penny Mordaunt
“There are encouraging signs, but the prime minister has said that there is still hard work to be done,” she tells presenter Trevor Phillips on the Sophy Ridge on Sunday show.
“This has to be acceptable to all communities in Northern Ireland and the EU is aware of that.”
She continues: “Both sides of the negotiations have said we’re not there yet, but those negotiations are still progressing.”
Asked about Boris Johnson’s intervention in deliberations – and warnings from a source close to Mr Johnson that abandoning the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill would be a “mistake” – Ms Mordaunt says: “Boris is being Boris.”
She continues: “But I wouldn’t say this is a completely unhelpful intervention.”
She says “it has always been our preference” to reach a negotiated settlement.
The vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has lauded the enormous, cooperative advancements made under the umbrella of the UK-Ghana Business Council (UKGBC) since its founding in 2018.
Speaking at the 7th session of the Council at the Jubilee House, Accra, Dr Bawumia expressed delight that six years down the line, his vision for the Council – to reduce trade barriers and enhance cooperation between the Governments of Ghana and the United Kingdom – had led to the funding of major infrastructure projects across the country through UK Export Financing.
“I have been so impressed with the accomplishments that have been made over the last six years under the UKGBC. If you look at the projects, in the area of infrastructure for instance, they have been quite significant. The Kumasi International Airport easily comes to mind; the Tamale Airport as well.
“You have the Eastern Regional Hospital which is ongoing, [reconstruction and modernization of the 44-Year old] Maternity and Children’s Block at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. You have Aqua Africa Limited which is supplying critical water to 16 towns across the country; Obetsebi Lamptey Interchange Phase II, Kejetia Market Phase II, equipping of the Bekwai Hospital, and the Tema-Aflao highway, which is really key and many more.
“I think there has been significant progress made under the UK-Ghana Business Council, its setting up makes a lot of sense, and I’m glad that we are continuing in the same spirit of cooperation and partnership between the UK and Ghana. There is a solid record of accomplishment thus far,” he stated.
“I would like to thank the UK Government for the support it continues to offer Ghana and the cooperation that we are seeing from the private sector, the investments that are taking place here, and look forward to working together especially as we chart new ground in the area of climate change,” he added.
Accompanied by Baroness Kate Hoey, UK Trade Envoy to Ghana, and Ms Harriet Thompson, UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell, UK Minister of State for Development and Africa acknowledged the important role the UKGBC has played in deepening relations between the two countries, and pledged his country’s commitment to even deeper cooperation.
“I know from my Ministerial colleagues including Penny Mordaunt and Vickie Ford who chaired the last session in London in May, just what a central role the UK Ghana Business Council has played in deepening our bilateral relationship, increasing trade and investment, building partnerships, creating jobs, supporting sustainable growth and building mutual, shared prosperity.
“By focusing on a set of priority sectors, UKGBC has helped us target the areas that we can collectively make the biggest difference. I am delighted that today we will be able to hear about progress across those sectors, in particular in the auto and energy sectors; I had a chance this morning to visit the auto sector to see for myself what is going on,” he emphasized.
Sir Graham Bradyappears to have confirmed Boris Johnson’s claim that he had enough MPs to challenge Rishi Sunak in the leadership election last month.
Mr Johnson dropped out of the Tory leadership race, claiming he had the necessary nominations but was unable to unite the party.
Sir Graham, chair of the Tory party’s 1922 Committee, told the BBC that “two candidates” had reached the threshold, and “one of them decided not to then submit his nomination.”
Sir Graham also spoke about his experiences meeting with former PMs Liz Truss and Mr Johnson at separate stages this year to tell them they no longer commanded majority support from their MPs.
“I was reaching for my phone when I got a message saying the prime minister had asked to see me,” the Altrincham and Sale West MP told BBC North West Tonight.
“When I went in to see her with her chief of staff Mark Fullbrook, she asked me the question – she said ‘it’s pretty bad, isn’t it?’ To which I replied ‘yes, it is pretty bad’”.
“She asked the second question, ‘do you think it’s retrievable?’. And I said ‘no, I don’t think it is’. And she replied that she didn’t either.”
He said Mr Johnson had insisted he was “still determined to go on”, but changed his mind overnight.
After Mr Sunak was made PM uncontested, Mr Johnson tweeted: “Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on this historic day, this is the moment for every Conservative to give our new PM their full and wholehearted support.”
The former premier offered his congratulations a day later than messages from outgoing PM Ms Truss and Mr Sunak’s fellow leadership hopeful,Penny Mordaunt
In British politics, the Great Offices of State refers to the four top jobs in politics: prime minister, chancellor, foreign secretary, and home secretary.
We know Rishi Sunak is the first, so let’s look at who the other three are.
Chancellor
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
In a move that many expected, Sunak decided to keep Jeremy Hunt as chancellor after he was brought in to undo the mess caused by former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s September 23 mini-budget.
His was the first appointment to be announced by Sunak’s team.
Foreign Secretary
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Another person who stayed in their cabinet role was James Cleverly, made foreign secretary by Truss a few weeks ago.
It was reported that Penny Mordaunt, Sunak’s rival in the leadership race, had made it clear this was the job she wanted – but she instead remained in her current post as leader of the House of Commons.
Home secretary
EPACopyright: EPA
A controversial addition was Suella Braverman, who were both appointed and re-appointed as home secretary yesterday.
Braverman was made home secretary by Truss in September, but she later resigned after it was revealed she had broken the rules by sending an official document from her personal email account.
In her resignation letter, Braverman claimed it was “not serious politics” for MPs to make mistakes and carry on. Many saw this as a reference to Truss, who was under intense pressure to stand aside, which she did – the next day.
Stay tuned for a full list of everyone Sunak hired yesterday.
When Liz Trussbecame prime minister, some commented that she had built up a cabinet almost entirely of her supporters.
Butour political correspondent Tamara Cohen says Rishi Sunakis likely to take a different approach.
“Rishi Sunak’s team say that when he talks about a government of all the talents, he actually means it this time,” she says.
This means bringing in people who don’t support or agree with him.
While this risks high-profile complainers in the newspapers come budget time, Tamara says there is another reason Mr Sunak will want to keep his critics close.
The Tories command a majority of nearly 80 in the Commons, but plenty of MPs backed Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt in the leadership race – meaning the party is “deeply divided” and votes on spending cuts could be difficult to get through.
Every vote will count for Mr Sunak, Tamara says – so he’ll need “as many of his critics in government positions as possible”.
Margaret Thatcher had taken a similar approach, appointing her critics so people would challenge her.
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, is set to become the UK’s next Prime Minister just 44 days after it was announced that ex-Conservative party member, Liz Truss, would be stepping down as Britain’s governing leader.
The 42-year-old, who is the son of Indian immigrants, is one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster and will be the country’s first leader of colour. The ex-banker will also be asked to form a government by Britain’s recently appointed head-of-state, King Charles, after he defeated opponents Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt.
“This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party,” Mordaunt said in a statement as she withdrew from the race after failing to garner support. “Rishi has my full support.”
Sunak was selected to follow on from Truss by lawmakers from the Conservative Party, becoming the nation’s third prime minister in less than two months tasked with restoring stability to a country indebted with years of political and economic turmoil.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, said that when announcing the results of the leadership race, the Conservative Party only received one “valid” nomination to be the leader and therefore Prime Minister, and that was Sunak.
An Oxford University graduate, the former Goldman Sachs analyst first came to national attention just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Britain, where he served as Finance Minister under Boris Johnson, developing the successful furlough scheme.
Sunak met his wife, Akshata Murthy—whose father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd—while at Stanford University. Sunak will only become Prime Minister when Liz Truss formally hands in her resignation with King Charles, when he will be invited to form a government.
Penny Mordaunthas stepped down at the last minute, paving the way for Rishi Sunak to become the next Prime Minister.
Mr Sunak had over 200 supporters as the two contenders raced to obtain 100 nominations by today’s 2 pm deadline.
Ms Mordaunt said in a statement that it was “clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today.”
“They have taken this decision in good faith for the good of the country…
“As a result, we have now chosen our next prime minister. This decision is a historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party.”
The Commons leader said Mr Sunak now has her “full support” and that now is the time to “unite and work together for the good of the nation”.
“There is much work to be done,” she added.
Ms Mordaunt’s withdrawal means there is only one candidate left in the race – Rishi Sunak – and therefore he will be the new leader.
A source within Penny Mordaunt’s campaign team has texted Beth Rigby to say: “We have now passed 90. For the sake of the party, it’s important our members have their say.”
Only 25 Tory MPs have publicly backed the Commons leader – compared with 180 for Rishi Sunak.
We heard from Boris Johnson’s campaign last night, as he stood back from the race, that he’d had 102 backers – something commentators have questioned.
It willbecome clear over the coming hours whether Ms Mordaunt’s campaign is inflating the number to try to gain momentum, or whether the bookies and onlookers like George Osborne have got this completely wrong.
The number of MPs publicly backing her hovered around 20 all weekend and anyone hoping Boris Johnson’s exit would see a flurry of his backers joining her camp will be disappointed.
Even Mr Johnson’s most passionate backers, like Nadine Dorries and James Duddridge, are rowing in behind Mr Sunak. It is clear which way the wind is blowing.
With over half the parliamentary party now backing the former chancellor, the pressure is mounting on Ms Mordaunt.
Former Chancellor George Osborne has taken to Twitter to urge her to step aside. He said that “she can’t command the support of a majority of MPs” and Mr Sunak is best placed to “reinforce the return of market credibility”.
But there is no sign of Ms Mordaunt giving up – her team says she is continuing to speak to colleagues from across the party and is “in it to win it”.
Allies say behind the scenes the numbers are closer than they seem.
Some MPs do believe the membership should have a say and want a contest – not a coronation.
Last time round Ms Mordaunt secured the backing of 105 MPs in the final round and there are still enough undeclared votes for her to make it onto the ballot.
But one of the biggest jobs for whoever takes over will be uniting a deeply divided parliamentary party; with three hours to go calls for Conservative MPs to unite around Mr Sunak are getting louder.
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
After Boris Johnson announced his withdrawal from the campaign to become the United Kingdom’s next Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has emerged as the frontrunner.
Among Conservative MPs, the former chancellor presently has the most declared supporters.
The focus now shifts to whether his remaining opponent, Penny Mordaunt, will satisfy the requisite 100 MPs when nominations end at 14:00 BST.
Mr Johnson withdrew from the race to succeed Liz Truss on Sunday.
The former prime minister – who was in No 10 until just seven weeks ago – claimed he had met the threshold required to stand but in a statement said “you cannot govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament”, adding that now was “simply not the right time”.
Many of Mr Johnson’s supporters were caught by surprise at his withdrawal. Essex MP James Duddridge, who gave the first indication that Mr Johnson was intending to run in the Tory leadership race, simply tweeted: “Well that was unexpected. Off to bed!”
With Mr Johnson out of the leadership race, several MPs have begun switching their nominations to the two remaining candidates.
Some 180 out of 357 Tory MPs have gone public with who they are backing, with Mr Sunak garnering support from 155 and Ms Mordaunt securing 25 backers.
Ms Mordaunt’s team said she was still in the running and within “touching distance” of getting enough backers, while Mr Sunak’s team said they were taking nothing for granted.
Damian Green, a former cabinet minister in Theresa May’s government and who is backing Ms Mordaunt, said her numbers are “well above” the published figure.
“We’re confident of getting to 100 before the deadline of two o’clock and putting to colleagues that the case that Penny is the person best positioned to unify the party,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
If she does reach 100 backers, the race could then go to an online ballot of Conservative Party members, with the winner of that being announced by Friday.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA Image caption, Penny Mordaunt in an interview outside the BBC on Sunday
Mr Sunak is the firm favourite to replace Ms Truss as PM and could do so by as early as Monday afternoon if Ms Mordaunt fails to meet the benchmark.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who scrapped many of Ms Truss’s major economic plans announced in September’s mini-budget, has endorsed Mr Sunak.
In a piece in the Daily Telegraph on Monday, Mr Hunt said: “To restore stability and confidence, we need a leader who can be trusted to make difficult choices.
“We have a leader who can do just that in Rishi Sunak.”
He added that Mr Sunak had been “proved right” over his “unfunded tax cut” warnings during the summer’s Tory leadership campaign.
Whoever wins the race will be the UK’s third prime minister in less than two months.
But there are growing calls from opposition parties for an immediate general election – with Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner saying Mr Sunak had not given a public interview since the leadership process began.
“The Tories are about to hand Rishi Sunak the keys to the country without him saying a single word about how he would govern,” she said. “No one voted for this.
“Perhaps it’s not surprising he’s avoiding scrutiny: after all, he was so bad that just a few weeks ago he was trounced by Liz Truss.
“It’s why we need an election now – people deserve a vote on the future of the country.”
SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford also said Tory MPs should put pressure on their next leader to immediately call for a general election.
“That the Tories can foist upon us a third prime minister in just three years without an election, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and economic crisis of their making, speaks to how unfair and undemocratic this Westminster system is,” he said.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries has said it would now be impossible to avoid a general election, taking aim at the remaining two candidates.
Ms Dorries, a long-time ally of Mr Johnson, tweeted that Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt, “despite requests from Boris, refused to unite, which would have made governing utterly impossible”.
Ms Truss, who replaced Mr Johnson in No 10 following a lengthy leadership campaign in the summer, resigned as prime minister after 45 days in office marked by turmoil. She will become the shortest-serving prime minister in British history when she stands down.
Penny Mordaunt has become the first Conservative MP to officially announce she is standing to replace Liz Truss as Tory leader and prime minister.
She was one of the less well-known candidates in the summer Tory leadership contest, but made it through to the final three.
In the first four ballots of Tory MPs in July, she came a clear second behind Rishi Sunak. She eventually lost out to Mr Sunak and Liz Truss in the last round, before Conservative members had the final say.
Her strong showing was rewarded when she was named Leader of the House of Commons by Ms Truss in her first day in office.
Since then, she has impressed colleagues at Westminster with a series of sure-footed appearances and her use of humour in the Commons, at a time when crisis was engulfing the government.
she had not even mustered a nod for Ms Truss during Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Mordaunt replied: “My resting face is that of a bulldog chewing a wasp, and people shouldn’t read too much into that.”
Ms Debbonaire also challenged her about comments she was reported to have made at the Conservative Party conference, that “our policy is great but our comms is shit”. The shadow leader suggested the government’s policies were “also shhh … shocking, too”.
Ms Mordaunt said she had been “playing to the crowd as I was addressing a room full of communication professionals” – and added, to cheers from Tory MPs: “It is the anti-growth coalition whose policies are shhh … shocking.”
Just days before Ms Truss announced she was quitting, the Commons leader fronted up for her, answering an urgent question tabled by Labour for the the prime minister.
She denied Ms Truss was dodging scrutiny or hiding “under a desk” by sending Ms Mordaunt to cover for her.
Meanwhile, Ms Mordaunt raised her profile with the wider public by leading the Accession Council ceremony of the new King at St James’s Palace, two days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Her role as Lord President of the Privy Council meant she played a central part in the event – which was televised for the first time.
Opinion polls have suggested Ms Mordaunt is popular with Tory members, and she has put in the work on the so-called “rubber chicken” circuit of Tory fundraisers and charity dinners.
The 49-year-old Portsmouth North MP has been in and around government for the best part of a decade and even had a brief spell as a reality TV star.
She was a prominent backer of Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.
The daughter of a paratrooper and a special needs teacher, she was born in Torquay but grew up in Portsmouth, and, like Ms Truss, was educated at a comprehensive school, before going to university.
Shortly we’ll be hearing from Commons leader Penny Mordaunt – one of three potential candidatesto take over from Liz Truss.
Mordaunt was one of the less well-known candidates in the summer Tory leadership contest, but made it through to the final three.
In the first four ballots of Tory MPs in July, she came a clear second behind Rishi Sunak. She eventually lost out to Mr Sunak and Liz Truss in the last round, before Conservative members had the final say.
Her strong showing was rewarded when she was named Leader of the House of Commons by Ms Truss on her first day in office.
Since then, she has impressed colleagues at Westminster with a series of sure-footed appearances and her use of humour in the Commons, at a time when crisis was engulfing the government.
The leveling up secretary, Simon Clarke, is the second cabinet minister to officially back Boris Johnson as Tory Party leader.
In a joint statement to Daily Telegraph with the Tees Valley mayor, he says Johnson would lead “a broad-based, inclusive government drawing on talent from right across the Conservative Party, driven by a disciplined Downing Street”.
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg has already backed Johnson, while Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was “leaning” towards supporting him.
Clarke, a Truss loyalist, said Johnson “is the person we need to lead our country and our party” as he can unite the UK, make Brexit a success, and control illegal immigration.
No one has yet confirmed they are entering the race, but the BBC’s latest tally suggests Rishi Sunakwould have the backing of 56 MPs, Johnson would have 33 and Penny Mordaunt would be on 17.
Liz Truss is entitled to more than £100,000 a year as a former prime minister, despite only being in office for 45 days.
Truss resigned on Thursday after her tumultuous stint as prime minister resulted in deep splits within her party and fury over her handling of the economy.
A new PM is expected to be in place by next Friday with Boris Johnson, Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak among the favourites to win.
Truss has not indicated what she will do after resigning but all former PMs are entitled to money through the Public Duties Cost Allowance (PDCA).
John Major and Tony Blair have both claimed the expense ever since they left office. (PA)
It is currently set at £115,000 a year and hasn’t changed since 2011.
Despite Truss only being in office for just over five weeks, she is still entitled to the yearly sum for the rest of her life.
John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron all claimed more than £100,000 in the last financial year.
The PDCA was announced in 1991 by Major and Margaret Thatcher was the first former prime minister to benefit from it.
The government says the purpose of the allowance is to allow former PMs to still take an active part in public life.
It is not a direct wage, but rather an allowance they can claim to cover expenses to pay for travel, staff and offices they may require from their special position in public life.
It is not allowed to be used for private life or for their parliamentary office if they still remain an MP.
All former PMs can claim the allowance unless they are the leader of the opposition.
They can claim it for the rest of their life, and any staff who are still employed by them upon their death can receive redundancy pay from the pot.
The details of the leadership election have not yet been described, but many Tory MPs are hoping the party will rally behind a unity candidate quickly.
How the Tory membership will be involved still has not yet been figured out, as the balloting of the whole party is by far the longest part of the whole process.
1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady has said he expects Tory members to be involved in choosing a new party leader.
Asked if the party faithful will be included in the process, he told reporters: “Well, that is the expectation.
“So the reason I’ve spoken to the party chairman and I discussed the parameters of a process is to look at how we can make the whole thing happen, including the party being consulted, by Friday next week.”
Brady added: “I think we’re deeply conscious of the imperative in the national interest of resolving this clearly and quickly.”
All of the opposition parties have called for a general election as a result of Truss’s resignation.
As we said earlier, we’ve been keeping an eye on the number of Conservative MPs who have declared their support for potential contenders in the leadership election so far.
Take a look at our latest tally:
Rishi Sunak – 56
Boris Johnson – 33
Penny Mordaunt – 17
No one has publicly said they’re running yet.
Our tally is based on MPs telling the BBC who they’re backing, or publicly declaring for a potential candidate, as compiled by the BBC.
You may say see different counts online – as others may be including MPs who‘ve privately told them who they’re backing.
We’ll bring you updates on the numbers as we get them.
Other namesbeing floated as potential contenders are former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and international trade secretary Kemi Badenoch. Defence Secretary Ben Wallaceearlier ruled himself out of the contest.
Candidates need the support of at least 100 MPs by 14:00 on Monday – a much higher threshold than the last leadership race.
Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister just 44 days after succeeding Boris Johnson.
She will be the prime minister with the shortest tenure in modern British political history.
In a statement read outside Downing Street, Ms Truss said: “I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability.
“Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills.”
She said she was elected “with a mandate to change this”, adding: “We delivered on energy bills.”
” I recognise, though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” she said.
“I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
“This morning, I met the chairman of the 1922 committee, Sir Graham Brady. We’ve agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week.”
He added: “The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people.
“They do not have the mandate to put the country through yet another experiment; Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish.”
The start of Truss’ downfall
Ms Truss’ downfall started when her former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced his mini-budget a month ago, which prompted weeks of economic turmoil and eventually led to him being sacked last Friday.
Mr Hunt, who voted for Rishi Sunak during the leadership campaign, then took over as chancellor and U-turned on the majority of the unfunded mini-budget tax cuts on Monday – further undercutting Ms Truss’ authority.
On Wednesday afternoon, her home secretary, Suella Braverman then quit after saying she had breached security rules by sending a policy message to a colleague over her personal email by mistake.
It only got worse on Wednesday evening after confusion over whether Labour’s opposition day vote was actually a confidence vote in the government or not – which resulted in allegations of “manhandling” of Tory MPs bycolleagues.
Some Tory MPs had publicly called for Ms Truss’ resignation before that but in the hours before she quit, a flurry of Tory MPs revealed they wanted her to go.
Conservative Party rules prevent a leader from a confidence vote in the first 12 months of their tenure but it is understood after a significant number of MPs wrote to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, calling for her to go, a decision was made that she could not stay.
Prime Minister Liz Truss went into “waxworks mode” in the Commons Wednesday and her performance lacked “emotional intelligence”, according to body language expert Judi James.
Speaking to Sky News today, Ms James said the body language of the prime minister was “hard to fathom” and “bizarre”.
Analysing the scenes, she said: “I would imagine the best way to describe it would be a lack of intelligence.”
Ms James went on to say Commons leader Penny Mordauntlooked like “somebody on a sinking ship for over an hour armed with a teacup” before Ms Truss “bounced in” and “started laughing and chatting behind her”, which was “strange”.
“There was no bonding going on between the two women,” she said.
The body language expert said the Tory leader then fell into “waxworks mode” and did not join in, before adding that her facial expression became “frozen” and her eyes “looked like somebody who was fighting sleep”.
“You know if you go to see a bad play or go to the cinema and you can feel your eyes beginning to droop. It was that kind of blinking going on,” Ms James continued.
“And then the only other sign we got from her body language is what I call her ‘poker tell’.
“When she doesn’t like something her chin moves from side to side.
“But apart from that, very little endorsement signals going on. Normally we’d expect to see her looking at Hunt and nodding, but she just sat there looking glazed and looking at the opposition but without any real focus .”
Asked if Ms Truss’s body language gave a hint as to whether she was determined or defeated, Ms James added: “She is determined in the brain cells, but I think generally her body is telling her she is defeated.”
This must bethe most humbling of humble moments for Liz Truss.
Six weeks after becoming prime minister she is being forced to sit in silence as a man who backed her rival in the leadership campaign rips apart her whole plan for the country and turns it into something resembling Rishi Sunak’s prospectus for the government.
Next to the chancellor, two seats away Penny Mordaunt – the woman Ms Truss beat into the Tory leadership runoff.
She has just been fielding questions in the prime minister’s place, at one point assuring MPs that the prime minister was not hiding “under a desk.”
It’s hard to see how Liz Truss comes back from this politically with her vision for the country in tatters and one-time rivals now holding the power in government.
The problem for the prime minister is this isn’t just humbling, it’s humiliating.
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
Labour had tried to drag Liz Truss into the Commons to answer this urgent question.
However, the government can decide who to send, and – perhaps unsurprisingly – the prime minister will not be responding.
In her place is Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt.
It’s an interesting choice given she is being pushed by some as a potential successor to the beleaguered PM.
Ms Mordaunt is one of the better Commons operators though and may earn a few brownie points with backbenchers by heading out to bat at this tricky moment.
Liz Truss’s lack of appearance will fuel discontent among some MPs though.
“She needs to own it, and is now back in hiding again,” said one.
The vanishing act won’t last forever either.
The prime minister will likely be in the Commons for Jeremy Hunt’s statement today and is set to face Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs on Wednesday.
The foreign secretary has won the contest to become the next Tory party leader – and therefore prime minister – in a ballot of Conservative members.
Liz Truss will become the next prime minister after defeating Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership contest.
Ms Truss, who was the favourite to win, will succeed Boris Johnson on Tuesday and become the nation’s third female leader.
The foreign secretary used her victory speech to indicate she would not trigger an early general election, instead pledging to secure “a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024”.
She won by a comfortable margin, but her victory was slimmer than in other recent leadership contests.
Ms Truss said it is an “honour to be elected” as she thanked her party for organizing “one of the longest job interviews in history”.
In a short speech after the result was announced, she issued her thanks to her “friend” Mr Johnson.
“You got Brexit done. You crushed Jeremy Corbyn. You rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin,” she said.
Shortly after this, Ms Truss will meet the Queen, who will invite her to form a government.
Ms Truss is expected to make a speech outside Number 10 once she takes office and will then get to work on appointing her cabinet.
She faces the immediate challenge of coming up with a package of support to help households weather a worsening cost of living crisis driven by soaring energy bills.
Ms Truss reiterated her promise to “deliver a bold plan” to cut taxes and grow the economy in her victory speech.
“I will deliver on the energy crisis dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply,” she said.
Ms Truss has remained tight-lipped about what kind of support package she might introduce – though speculation is mounting it could be a freeze in the energy price cap.
Reacting to her victory, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said she “needs to show that she actually understands and can meet the challenges that are there after 12 years of failure of this Tory government”.
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, also called on her to “freeze energy bills for people and businesses, deliver more cash support, and increase funding for public services”.
Conservatives have also been reacting to her victory.
Theresa May said: “I look forward to supporting the government in that task.”
And former leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby that Ms Truss is the strong character the UK needs to “take our country forward”.
Mr Sunak and Ms Truss were whittled down to the final two candidates after five rounds of voting by Tory MPs.
The pair went head-to-head over a summer of hustings and live television debates, during which they clashed repeatedly over their plans for the economy.
Party members had from 1 August to 2 September to cast their votes, which were counted over the weekend.
Tory MPs are to vote for the last time to decide which two leadership candidates should go through to the run-off vote among party members.
Only Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, and Liz Truss remain in the race after Kemi Badenoch was eliminated on Tuesday.
Mr Sunak is still the frontrunner, with Ms Mordaunt and Ms Truss vying for the second spot in the final round.
Conservative Party members will vote over the summer, with a result to be announced on 5 September.
Tuesday’s vote saw Mr Sunak gain the support of three MPs to bring his total to 118.
Ms Mordaunt gained 10 votes to bring her total to 92, while Ms Truss gained 15 to close the gap and bring her total to 86.
Ms Badenoch gained one vote to reach 59 overall, but remained in last place and was knocked out of the contest.
Which of Ms Mordaunt and Ms Truss makes it to the final two is now likely to depend on who can attract the most support from those MPs who supported Ms Badenoch.
One of them, Ben Bradley, said he thought Ms Badenoch’s voters could go “in all directions” and that he had not yet decided who to back on Wednesday.
MPs will vote between 13:00 BST and 15:00 and the result announced at 16:00.
Writing in the Telegraph, Ms Truss said she was the “only person who can deliver the change – in line with true Conservative principles”, while Mr Sunak’s campaign has argued he is the candidate who could beat Labour.
On Wednesday morning, a source from Ms Modaunt’s campaign said: “Penny’s been speaking with colleagues already this morning and so many of Tom and Kemi’s backers are calling out for change. As the only one not in Johnson’s cabinet, Penny is the sole MP left in the race who offers a genuine fresh start.”
The campaigns have also accused one another of transferring votes to their rivals as part of a strategy to improve their own position.
Speaking to LBC Radio, former cabinet minister David Davis, who is backing Ms Mordaunt, said it was the “dirtiest campaign” he had ever seen.
“Rishi [Sunak] just reallocated some… He wants to fight Liz, because she’s the person who will lose the debate with him,” he said.
There has been day after day of smiles and visions, promises and hustings.
But it now boils down to a final vote of Conservative MPs here, between 1pm and 3pm this afternoon, to decide which two of the three remaining candidates get a golden ticket to the run off vote among Tory party members.
Right now, the final realignment is underway.
Votes are fluid. Even if a candidate’s numbers don’t appear to move much between votes, they can still have gained some and lost others.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Mr Sunak announced a policy of making the UK self-sufficient in energy production by 2045.
The ex-chancellor said he would scrap plans to relax a ban on new onshore wind farms, and would instead focus on offshore turbines.
Ms Mordaunt meanwhile has pledged to make it easier for renters to get a mortgage by requiring lenders to take into account rental payments when considering their credit history.
A YouGov survey of 725 party members on Monday and Tuesday suggested Mr Sunak would lose to either Ms Mordaunt or Ms Truss in a head-to-head.
The poll had Ms Mordaunt beating Mr Sunak by 51% to 37% and Ms Truss beating him by 54% to 35%.
The current size of the Tory party membership is not known for certain, but at the last leadership election in 2019 it was around 160,000, and is thought to have grown since.
The Conservative website says members can expect to receive their ballot papers between 1 to 5 August.
The deadline for voting – which can be done by post or online – is 17:00 BST on 2 September.
Members are being sent their ballot papers earlier in the process than in 2019, when voters received their ballot papers two weeks before the deadline.
