LIZ Truss’ career is on the brink this morning following a dramatic night of chaos, confusion and tears in the Commons.
Yesterday Tory MPs lashed out at their leader, who they accused of being unfit to govern and having lost all authority over their party.
At PMQs just hours before the Commons descended into chaos, Liz Truss told MPs she’s a “fighter not a quitter”
Grant Shapps was appointed Home Secretary yesterday after Suella Braverman was dramatically sacked by Liz Truss
Jeremy Hunt pictured leaving his London home this morning ahead of a massive day in Westminster
Today, head honcho of the powerful 1922 committee of backbench MPs, Sir Graham Brady, will meet his officers in Westminster to discuss the PM’s fate.
This morning Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan couldn’t say for certain whether Ms Truss will lead the Tories into the next general election.
When asked by Times Radio if she would, the Cabinet Minister replied: “I think at the moment that is still the case”.
Backbenchers took a far tougher line.
Crispin Blunt told the BBC’s Today Programme: “The situation is untenable. We need to effect change today to stop this shambles.”
He called on Jeremy Hunt to move into No10 and be replaced by Rishi Sunak as Chancellor.
Simon Hoare warned Ms Truss she has just 12 hours to “turn the ship around”.
He told the BBC: “The unsettling thing is that there isn’t a route plan – it is hand to hand fighting on a day to day basis.”
Ms Truss saw her government collapse around her on Wednesday as she sacked her Home Secretary and her Chief Whip Wendy Morton tried to quit only to hours later decide to stay put.
Ousted Suella Braverman branded Ms Truss “not serious” and accused her of living in political la la land.
She was replaced by former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who has spent the past few weeks plotting against the government and publicly bashing the policy ideas coming out of No10.
During farcical scenes in the Commons in the early evening, the Government U-turned on a threat to strip the whip from Conservative MPs if they backed a fracking ban.
Allegations of bullying were then levelled at senior Cabinet figures including the Deputy PM Therese Coffey and the whips over “physically manhandling” wavering MPs through the division lobbies.
Deputy chief whip Craig Whittaker had issued a “100 per cent hard” three-line whip, meaning any Tory MP who rebelled could be thrown out of the parliamentary party.
But Climate minister Graham Stuart stoked confusion by telling the Commons minutes before the vote that “quite clearly this is not a confidence vote”.
Mr Whittaker reportedly ran through Commons crying: “I am f*cking furious and I don’t give a f*ck anymore.”
Meanwhile, MPs overheard Ms Morton claiming she’s done with the job too.
But after hours of confusion No10 finally clarified both whips remained in post.
And astonishingly at 1.33am Downing Street messaged journalists to say the fracking vote was all just one big misunderstanding.
A No10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister has full confidence in the chief and deputy chief whip. Throughout the day, the whips had treated the vote as a confidence motion. The minister at the despatch box was told, mistakenly, by Downing Street to say that it was not.
“However, Conservative MPs were fully aware that the vote was subject to a three line whip. The whips will now be speaking to Conservative MPs who failed to support the government.”
Last night Tory MPs were seen in tears on the Commons terrace.
They were comforted by colleagues with glasses of wine in hand.
