Liz Truss has resigned. Part 3: The Return of the King?

[sunnydaytoday0]

Continuation from last thread.

By Monday we could have a new prime minister, and by next Friday at the latest.

Will Sunak win this time, or could Johnson get his old job back? Would the Tory members once again go against the wishes of the MPs?

And yes I think Johnson sees himself as some sort of world king..

Even if Sunak wins with a large number of votes and it doesn't go to a members' vote, I just don't see how he's going to unite his party.

Nobody can unite the party. All Rishi can do if he gets the job, is herd cats until the next election.

The advantage of Sunak that he was pro Brexit. He is economically competent (in a right wing way). He is more credible as a leader. No the membership don't like him, and some of them don't even regard him as British. Some of his decisions on spending have been terrible and he undermined Johnson for at least a year before declaring his first effort as leader.

But if the Conservatives choose Johnson they choose someone unfit for office and incompetent. Someone who literally backed Truss because he knew she would be terrible, who gave her his votes.

Maybe Rishi Sunak is a snake, but I think he's won this. The reason Johnson hasn't got the numbers is because what he did to his own party MPs. They remember.

I reckon at least he wouldn’t have resignations, which Boris probably will have

Adam Bienkov at adambienkov
Lots of rumours tonight about a possible Boris Johnson climbdown. One well-placed Conservative donor suggests that Johnson is preparing to back Rishi Sunak, with both men meeting this evening. The former Chancellor is currently well-clear of the former PM on declared endorsements

Very little difference between Johnson and Sunak. That tells us nothing really.

True, and it also says that any of the three improves Tory voting intention, which is hardly suprising.

But Johnson clearly comes out on top, which is interesting (and depressing.)

Is there any possibility of an early GE? Is it entirely down to the government?

I wonder what King Charles is thinking? Can he just say to the next Leader that he thinks there should be an election?

Or will he just listen and let the new leader just talk?

Yes the government makes the decision.

Johnson leading is more likely to lead to a crisis that might trigger a GE though.

And that's ultimately why he won't get the noms.

A crisis before May would kill the party. Having the max time before they call an election might be a damage limitation exercise but it saves the party and many of their own jobs...

Birma unless sunack and Boris really unite that's problem true

Cake or 🍷🍷

King Charles is probably hoping this carries on until Harry's book is out and then some.

That Christopher Hope guy is such a dick. He's the one always wanging on about a new royal yacht.

Whilst theoretically the King could dissolve Parliament to trigger a GE, to do so would be a massive step (Google says the last time it happened was 1924). In theory he could also refuse to endorse a new PM if he felt they could not form a stable Government.

I was thinking about elections and the King intervening.

Dissolving Parliament (which means an election) is one of the King's prerogative powers.

Basically as long as there is a Prime Minister with the support of Parliament the King will only exercise his prerogative powers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The only way I can see there being an early general election is if enough Tory MPs cross the floor and vote in a no-confidence motion against the Government. If that happens I would expect the PM to ask the King to dissolve Parliament. If the PM didn't do that, there would be a basis for the King dissolving Parliament anyway, but we would be in constitutional crisis territory by then.

Yeah, this.

See also the Gough Whitlam affair in Australia, more recently.

'I'm a fighter not a quitter' Liz will just be hoping someone's crowned winner on Monday so she can put her feet up at the next PMQs.

This is why Johnson is such a nightmare. He won't quit, he shows no loyalty, and his ego is so huge that he is prepared to do huge damage to his own party even as it's more and more apparent that he doesn't have the MPs he needs. He's been back a day after enabling chaos with Truss, having blessed us with her, he's going to absolutely screw it for all of them.

I mean they were toast last week but now, they have a total split thanks to his massive ego.

I agree with LexM. It’s all about ego, nothing whatsoever to do with throwing weight behind one candidate that could then go forward with a vague notion of trying to unite the party thus potentially creating a stable government.

As it stands there are now more continuing splits and mud slinging to come. Obviously the sensible approach would be for BJ to lend his support to Sunak and encourage his supporters to do the same but fat chance of that happening.

Unless some miracle happens the Tories will just continue to tear themselves apart and the business of governing the country will just get lost in all the physio drama. We all really do deserve so much better than this.

It is beyond comprehension how MPs and Ministers can lend their backing to a person they evicted from office a mere matter of weeks ago, accepting that not all felt that way. But to hear those backing BJ who had publicly resigned having sent letters of resignation expressing how they could not continue under his leadership now supporting him to stand again for PM is just utterly bereft of all logic, morals and intelligence.

this is all horrifying. Who are these people and what makes them so convinced that they must lead this country? Sunak is the only one who potentially has what it takes. And I would strongly suspect he'd be much better prepared with a few more Cabinet posts under his belt and another 5 years.
The other two are decent at presentational skills and banging on about Brexit but that's about the sum of it.

is just utterly bereft of all logic, morals and intelligence.

Pretty much sums up the Conservative party as it is now !

I hope this is another DM lie:

Boris-Rishi-meet-TONIGHT-hash-deal-govern-together.html

Times confirms this:

Sunak and Johnson were due to meet in the hope of burying the hatchet and thrashing out a deal to govern together. Sources in both camps said the meeting was scheduled for 3.30pm on Saturday, but the showdown was delayed until 5.30pm.

Johnson’s backers were urging him to offer Sunak a job in the hope of a deal, while other power brokers were hoping Sunak would apologise to Johnson for helping to end his premiership in the hope of securing his endorsement.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-right-spurns-boris-johnson-as-support-for-rishi-sunak-surges-c8x6ldtvh

Sunak has many more backers, but the problem will always be the members.

I wonder why all the Labour supporters are SO supportive of Sunak
Something to do with the fact you know he can't win an election? You know as a Billionaire banker the country won't get behind him, you know he is weak and pathetic and won't stand up to the treasury and Labour will have a field day reeling off his 'rich' credentials to the electorate when the time comes. I suspect you also know he will be as bad as Liz Truss, and will be sent packing within weeks most likely sparking on a GE in the process.

Most of us can see the media backing Labour such as the BBC have figured this out too, and are positively gushing. Well for now anyway....until they turn on him once he is there.

Boris is the only person that can win the next election, and everyone knows it. Which is why the true members of the conservative party will vote for him, as they are truly invested in the party and the future. Yup why would the party vote for a untried backstabber when they can have an election winner that managed the only landslide for the conservatives in decades?

Who is this "Boris"? A friend of yours?