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Just last month Liz Truss told Britons they could “ride out the storm” in her first speech as prime minister – now she has been warned “the game is up” as rumours swirl of plots to oust her.

A number of Tory MPs have now publicly called for her to step down, while former chancellor George Osborne has predicted she will most likely be gone “before Christmas”.

But who could replace Ms Truss if she is forced out as Conservative Party leader?

Here, Sky News looks at the runners and riders – and who is the favourite for the job.

Truss has ’12 hours to save her job’ – live politics updates

Rishi Sunak

FILE - British Conservative Party member Rishi Sunak launches his campaign for the Conservative Party leadership, in London, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. Britain...s next prime minister will take office amid turmoil: galloping inflation, a war in Ukraine, souring relations with China, a changing climate. But not all those issues are getting equal attention as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Treasury chief Sunak vie for the votes of about 180,000 Conservative Party members. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

The former chancellor, who was runner-up to Ms Truss in the Tory leadership race, is favourite with the bookmakers to replace her if she is ousted.

He warned his rival that her tax-cutting plans would send the economy into free fall, accusing her of “fairytale economics” as she promised unfunded tax cuts.

Following the fallout from the mini-budget, supporters of Mr Sunak believe he has been vindicated. One MP who supported him in the leadership race told the Telegraph: “Everything he said has come to pass.”

Mr Sunak won every voting round among MPs in the Tory leadership race but there are question marks over whether he could reunite the party, having been seen to have played a key role in Boris Johnson’s exit as PM.

Odds: 15/8 – favourite (Odds Checker average)

Penny Mordaunt

Penny Mourdant endorsed Liz Truss

Senior Conservatives have reportedly held talks about replacing Ms Truss with a joint ticket of Mr Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.

The leader of the Commons finished in third place in this summer’s Tory leadership race before she backed Ms Truss’s bid.

However, she has since taken on the prime minister after suggesting that benefits should rise in line with inflation.

The former defence secretary also caused a stir at the Tory conference earlier this month when she said the party’s “comms is s***”.

In messages shared in Conservative Party WhatsApp groups, leaked to Sky News, Tory MP Crispin Blunt called for Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt to take over.

“Step forward Rishi and Penny, with our support and encouragement in the interests of us all,” he wrote.

Ms Mordaunt was sent to the Commons on behalf of the PM to answer an urgent question on the sacking of former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday.

Denying that Ms Truss was hiding “under a desk”, Ms Mordaunt acknowledged the swirling rumours around the possibility of a joint ticket, telling MPs: “I fully understand the optics of me appearing at the despatch box.”

Odds: 7/2 (Odds Checker average)

Jeremy Hunt

The new chancellor, brought in to replace the sacked Kwasi Kwarteng, is now widely seen as the most powerful figure in government as he attempts to reshape the PM’s own economic plans to reassure the markets.

He has insisted that Ms Truss is still in charge of her government, but has scrapped practically all of the economic vision that brought her to power.

Seen by many in his party as a safe pair of hands, Mr Hunt has twice unsuccessfully tried to become Tory leader and has previously served as foreign secretary, health secretary and culture secretary.

In the leadership race this year, he backed Rishi Sunak over Ms Truss after getting eliminated from the contest himself in the first round of voting.

He was in the final two contenders to be Tory leader in 2019 – but lost to Boris Johnson by 66% to 34% in the members’ vote.

Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, who has called on Ms Truss to resign, has said Mr Hunt should be the party’s next leader.

“Jeremy Hunt has in a few short days impressively exercised his known personal qualities and has made the first critical contribution to restoring the primacy of serving the national interest. He should complete this work as our next prime minister,” he said.

But Mr Hunt has seemingly ruled himself out of a third run at the top job, telling Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby: “I rule it out, Mrs Hunt rules it out, three Hunt children rule it out.”

Odds: 9/2 (Odds Checker average)

Read more:
Jeremy Hunt – who is the UK’s new chancellor?
How could Liz Truss be removed?

Ben Wallace

British Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 12, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville

The defence secretary and former soldier is widely respected for the role he has played in the UK’s support for Ukraine.

He stayed neutral in the Tory leadership race before eventually backing Ms Truss.

There are doubts over whether he would want to be leader, having ruled himself out of this summer’s race despite being considered a frontrunner after “careful consideration and discussing with colleagues and family”.

The defence secretary told The Times on Tuesday that he wants to remain in his post amid speculation he could be a unity candidate if Ms Truss departs.

Mr Wallace rebuked his Conservative colleagues for playing “political parlour games”, telling the newspaper: “The public wants stability and security and if the government fails to deliver that then they will send us into opposition.”

Asked if he wanted the keys to Number 10, he said: “I want to be the secretary of state for defence until I finish. I love the job I do and we have more to do. I want the prime minister to be the prime minister and I want to do this job.”

Read more: What caused ‘manhandling’ and ‘jabbing at people’ during Commons fracking vote?

Mr Wallace’s only cabinet post has been defence secretary, which he has held since July 2019.

But he has signalled he would likely quit if the government ditches a key pledge to boost defence spending.

On Monday, new chancellor Jeremy Hunt refused to commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence, telling Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby he was “not giving any answers on any specific elements” of tax and spending policy.

Odds: 17/2 (Odds Checker average)

Boris Johnson

Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers a speech on his last day in office, outside Downing Street, in London Britain September 6, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble

In his farewell address as PM, Mr Johnson fuelled speculation about a future return to frontline politics despite promising his “most fervent support” to his successor Ms Truss.

Mr Johnson compared himself to Roman statesman Cincinnatus, who battled against invasion before returning to his farm. According to tradition, Cincinnatus later returned to serve a second term.

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Some Tory MPs are reportedly openly suggesting that the party asks Mr Johnson to return to Downing Street, despite being ousted just three months ago amid fury over the partygate and Chris Pincher scandals.

Former culture secretary and ally of the former PM, Nadine Dorries, is one of those openly calling for Mr Johnson’s return.

“There is no unity candidate. No one has enough support,” she posted on social media.

“Only one MP has a mandate from party members and from the British public – a mandate with an 80 seat majority. Boris Johnson.”

It is unclear whether the former prime minister would be interested in going back.

Odds: 7/1 (Odds Checker average)

Suella Braverman

Home Secretary Suella Braverman seen during the Conservative Party annual conference at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham. Picture date: Tuesday October 4, 2022.

Ms Braverman was the first to declare she was running to be the next Conservative Party leader in the summer, praised as a figurehead of the right of the party for her hard-line views on Brexit and for denouncing “woke nonsense”.

She threw her hat in the ring for the Tory leadership even before Boris Johnson had officially resigned.

“I love this country. My parents came here with absolutely nothing and it was Britain that gave them hope, security and opportunity and afforded me incredible opportunities in education and my career,” she told ITV at the time.

“I owe a debt of gratitude to this country and to serve as prime minister would be the greatest honour so yes I will try.”

After her shock resignation for sharing secure information through a private email on Wednesday, Ms Braverman lashed out at Ms Truss’s “tumultuous” premiership and accused the government of “breaking key pledges” – including on immigration policy.

Ms Braverman, a former attorney general, only became home secretary on 6 September when Ms Truss brought her in to replace Priti Patel.

Her tenure as home secretary has been controversial, having accused Tory critics who successfully forced Ms Truss into U-turning over plans to scrap the top rate of income tax of a “coup”.

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‘A constant game of cat and mouse’: Inside the police crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

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'A constant game of cat and mouse': Inside the police crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.

“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.

“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”

Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.

Police chase suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery drivers

The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.

“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.

“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”

Murad Mohammed from Immigration Enforcement
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Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue

Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.

He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.

He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.

A man inspects the Just Eat food delivery bag of a suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver

We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.

Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.

This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.

Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’s retail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.

Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum
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Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News

She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.

“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.

“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver being arrested

There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.

Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.

But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.

“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.

Read more:
Welfare bill passes final Commons stage after another concession
Ex-Tory chairman defects to Reform
Wealth tax could be coming to the UK – what is it?

The gig economy – so prevalent in every city – creates another incentive for those wanting to risk their lives coming to the UK illegally.

More than 20,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to the UK in 2025 – a record number at this point of the year.

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver holds his helmet

For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.

There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.

As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.

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Officers who confronted Southport killer reveal how they disarmed him – as they are nominated for police bravery award

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Officers who confronted Southport killer reveal how they disarmed him - as they are nominated for police bravery award

The officers who confronted the Southport killer have described, for the first time publicly, how they disarmed him – as they joined a list of 70 officers nominated for a police bravery award.

Sergeant Greg Gillespie, 42, PC Luke Holden, 31, and PCSO Tim Parry, 32, were the first to arrive as Axel Rudakubana rampaged with a knife through a holiday dance school last summer.

Speaking to Sky News about what they saw when arriving at the scene, Sgt Gillespie said: “There was maybe 20 or 25 adults and all of them were looking at me, all of them have this look of terror and fear, panic on their faces and I knew whatever it was we were turning up to was really, really bad.”

His colleagues drove fast from Southport police station and were thirty seconds or so behind Sgt Gillespie.

PC Luke Holden (left), PCSO Tim Parry (centre), Sgt Greg Gillespie (right) nominated for the police bravery awards
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PC Luke Holden (left), PCSO Tim Parry (centre), Sgt Greg Gillespie (right) nominated for the police bravery awards

PC Holden said he saw “a large puddle of blood on the floor outside the door” and said Sgt Gillespie “just looked at me” and asked if he was ready.

“That was it, there was no conversation. There was nothing else going on. He said, ‘Are you ready?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, let’s go’.”

PCSO Parry, who doesn’t carry a baton or pepper spray like his colleagues, went to the back of the building to stop people from entering, help anyone who needed it, and get information on the number of suspects inside.

He said: “It was a horrific scene to really go into because I was so unprepared with the equipment I had.”

Sgt Gillespie and PC Holden identified the suspect at the top of the stairs, a bloodied knife in his hand, and walked towards him shoulder to shoulder.

“I saw him, made eye contact with him, saw his facial expression, saw his body language and the way he moved himself into a position at the top of the stairs, showing us he had a knife,” Sgt Gillespie said.

“He was fronting us, like he was saying, ‘I’ve got a knife, what are you going to do about it?’

“And I think the second he realised he was looking at two people who weren’t scared of him, who were going to attack him, all that bravery that he must have summoned up to attack defenceless children, he lost that straightaway, and he threw down the knife.”

In January, Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the attack, admitted the murders of seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, aged six and Alice da Silva Aguiar, who was nine, as well 10 charges of attempted murder, as well as possessing terrorist material and production of the biological toxin, ricin.

He was jailed for life with a minimum of 52 years – with the sentencing judge saying it was “highly likely” he would never be released.

**STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL AFTER CONCLUSION OF SENTENCING**
Pic: Merseyside Police
Axel Rudakubana trial Southport murders court evidence
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A machete was also found at Rudakubana’s home. Pic: Merseyside Police

Dozens nominated for bravery awards

The Merseyside trio are among 70 officers from around England and Wales who have been nominated for tonight’s Police Federation national bravery awards.

They include two sergeants from Sussex who swam to the rescue of a vulnerable teenager struggling to stay afloat at night off Brighton beach.

Footage of Sergeant Craig Lees and Sergeant Matthew Seekings rescuing a woman from the sea in Brighton. Pic: Sussex police
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Footage of Sergeant Craig Lees and Sergeant Matthew Seekings rescuing a woman from the sea in Brighton. Pic: Sussex police


Police with torches had located her in the sea fifty metres from the shore, but a lifeline they threw to her didn’t reach.

Sergeant Craig Lees said: “We could see that she was starting to struggle with the cold and tide, and she began to dip under the water. We knew we needed to do something, and that was that we needed to get into the water and swim out to her.”

His colleague and friend Sergeant Matthew Seekings said: “I don’t think it’s in the blood of any police officer to watch somebody at risk or somebody needing help and not do something.

“When you’re in the sea, it’s pitch black, you don’t even know where the bottom is, it’s terrifying, and I can only imagine how the female was feeling.”

Sergeant Craig Lees and Sergeant Matthew Seekings who are nominated for a bravery award. Pic: Sussex police
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Sergeant Craig Lees and Sergeant Matthew Seekings who are nominated for a bravery award. Pic: Sussex police

Read more from Sky News:
Mother of Southport attack victim ‘still struggling to survive’
‘Wholesale failure’ to address Southport killer’s risk – inquiry

Battling their own fatigue, the two officers managed to get the girl to shore, where colleagues and paramedics were waiting to take over.

In Devizes, Wiltshire, PC Nicola Crabbe was called to a town centre fight between two men, one of whom had a knife.

PC Nicola Crabbe from Wiltshire police who is nominated for a police bravery award
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PC Nicola Crabbe from Wiltshire police who is nominated for a police bravery award

‘Just saturated in blood’

“They were grappling, and they were just saturated in blood,” said PC Crabbe, who confronted the man she thought was the knifeman.

“I was in the middle of the road when I grabbed hold of him, and there was a member of the public just there, and that’s when he explained to me that I had the wrong person.”

CCTV image of PC Nicola Crabbe from Wiltshire police dealing with a fight in Devizes. Pic: Wiltshire police
Image:
CCTV image of PC Nicola Crabbe from Wiltshire police dealing with a fight in Devizes. Pic: Wiltshire police

Armed only with a baton and Pava pepper spray, she grappled with the suspect, trying to find his knife.

She said: “At one point he grabbed my hair and kind of dragged me around a bit, so I Pava’d him which just had no effect at all.”

PC Crabbe managed to restrain the knifeman until colleagues arrived and arrested him.

The full list of award winners will be announced on Thursday night during a dinner at a west London hotel.

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Labour MPs form new group as they urge prime minister to focus on living standards to help ward off Reform

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Labour MPs form new group as they urge prime minister to focus on living standards to help ward off Reform

A group of Labour MPs has urged Sir Keir Starmer to do more to tackle the rising cost of living amid fears the party could lose the next election to Reform.

The MPs are launching a new splinter group, the living standards coalition, to shift the focus to everyday concerns such as food, energy bills and housing.

Politics latest: Former Tory chairman defects to Reform

In a letter to the prime minister, the group’s members warned that one question would be on the mind of voters at the next election: “Did this Labour government make me better off?”

“After 14 years of living in a no-growth economy and with some of the highest bills in Europe, our constituents are struggling to make ends meet,” they said.

“More of them are turning away from democracy and towards populism as they can’t afford a decent life.”

The coalition is the latest splinter group to form since the party’s landslide election victory a year ago.

More on Labour

Other groups include the Labour growth group, which focuses on delivering economic growth, and MPs in Red Wall constituencies in the North who are alive to the threat Reform poses in their seats.

A YouGov poll last month found Reform was on track to get the most seats if an election were held this year – with combined support for the Conservatives and Labour collapsing to less than half of the national vote.

While the MPs stress they are supportive of the actions the government has taken so far, the forming of a new group could be interpreted as a sign of restlessness in the parliamentary party, especially given the fallout of last week’s botched welfare vote.

In the letter, first reported by The Guardian, the MPs write: “We are here to support your efforts to go further and faster on raising living standards. We come from every corner of our party.

“To raise living standards, we support government interventions that will help to increase incomes and lower costs.

Read more:
What is a wealth tax?
Controversial welfare bill passes

“We welcome interventions that will raise incomes. We welcome investment in labour- intensive building, education, and healthcare jobs that will raise living standards through employment. We welcome the Employment Rights Bill that will get wages rising.”

They added: “We know that some will try to stop us raising living standards.

“They will try to block us from building the affordable housing and windfarms we need to get bills down. They oppose the way we have raised revenue from the very wealthiest to invest in childcare and our NHS.

“We are glad you are keeping this government’s focus on raising living standards. We stand in support of you. It is the most important issue to our constituents and the country.”

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