Inside Politics: When the herd moves, it moves

Boris Johnson mulls another tilt at top job as Truss resigns just weeks into premership, writes Matt Mathers

APTOPIX Britain Politics (alberto pezzali)

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Lettuce 1 Truss 0.

Inside the bubble

Commons sits from 9.30 am for PMBs.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey is on Radio 4 at 8.30am.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is on BBC Breakfast at 8.30am.

Daily briefing

Bring back Boris?

When the herd moves, it moves. And boy, did it get going quickly yesterday. Less than 24 hours after the chaotic scenes in the Commons chamber, described by Conservative MPs as “disgraceful”, Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee, went to see Liz Truss.

He told her it was over, bringing an end to the shortest – and possibly worst – premiership in modern history. Delivering a brief speech outside the big black door, Truss said she understood that she no longer had a mandate to govern the country but would remain in office until her successor is chosen.

What happens now? The Conservative Party may feel like it has begun to ease the pain in ousting Truss, but it is not clear whether the medication will work and the headache looks like it could well turn into a migraine. Brady announced yesterday that a leadership contest will take place next week, with 100 nominations required to get on the ballot.

The frontrunners are Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, Penny Mordaunt, the Commons leader and...Boris Johnson. Reports say the former PM, still facing a Commons investigation over claims that he lied to parliament, already has 38 backers.

And there was no shortage of true believers queuing up to sing Johnson’s praises in the media yesterday. Johnson, on holiday with parliament still sitting, is said to believe that his candidacy is in the “national interest”. Dear oh dear, as King Charles might say.

Johnson’s backers believe they can get the numbers required to get him on the ballot and, at this stage, it is plausible that he could become PM again. Some Conservatives, including the veteran Sir Roger Gale, have said they will resign if Johnson progresses.

What of the other two, Sunak and Mordaunt? A huge chunk of the parliamentary party and members absolutely despise Sunak, for what they believe was his role in bringing down Johnson and his “high taxes”. Mordaunt seems to be well-regarded and liked throughout the party but is far less experienced than the other two.

It is not clear, however, that whoever wins this contest will be able to bring the divided party togetherand command a working majority in the Commons.

APTOPIX Britain Politics (alberto pezzali)

General election now

Keir Starmer called for an immediate general election in the wake of Liz Truss’s resignation, saying the Conservative Party had shown it no longer had a mandate to govern.

The Labour leader said: “After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos.

“In the last few years, the Tories have set record-high taxation, trashed our institutions and created a cost-of-living crisis. Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 a month extra on their mortgages.

“The damage they have done will take years to fix.

“Each one of these crises was made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each one has left our country weaker and worse off.”

Today’s cartoon

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(Dave Brown)

On the record

In her resignation letter, Truss said she could not deliver the mandate she was elected on.

“I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

From the Twitterati

Sky news politics editor Beth Rigby asks if another Tory MP can stop the rot.

“It’s over, after just 44 days. This sorry affair a dark chapter for the Tories, now trying to turn the corner with yet another PM. But as the party has a “collective breakdown”, to quote one minister, is it possible for PM no3 to stop the rot?”

Essential reading

• Cathy Newman, The Independent: As scenes of chaos swamped the Commons, I asked senior Tories one key question
• John Rentoul, The Independent: What are the likely terms of the deal to replace Liz Truss?
• Andrew Grice, The Independent: Truss is gone – and the air at Westminster is thick with plots
• Brian Klaas, The Independent: What happened to Liz Truss can’t happen here

Inside Politics first appeared in our daily morning email. You can sign up via this link.