Candidates to replace Liz Truss as Tory leader will need at least 100 MP nominations
Candidates to replace Liz Truss as Tory leader will need at least 100 nominations from Conservative MPs, 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady has said.
This will rule out a number of candidates from running, and means the maximum number of people able to stand is three.
During the last leadership election, Rishi Sunak won 137 nominations, Ms Truss 113 and Penny Mordaunt 105.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Who could replace Liz Truss as PM?
Liz Truss resigns: Live updates
“We fixed a high threshold but a threshold that should be achievable by any serious candidate who has a prospect of going through,” Sir Graham said.
Nominations are open from now and will close at 2pm on Monday – with a new leader to be chosen by the end of the week.
The final two candidates will take part in a hustings event organised with news broadcasters, before an online vote for members to choose who they want to lead the party.
However, Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue said “it could end up being that it doesn’t go to the membership”.
She points out that some MPs don’t want the vote to go to the party membership, given that Ms Truss was their last pick.
“They know this is a last chance – they won’t be able to go through another prime minister as quickly as this,” she said.
One potential option is that MPs coalesce around one candidate, meaning the contest will be over on Monday if only one person is able to receive enough nominations.
How the Tory Party changes its leader
Sir Graham has already said that the new prime minister will be chosen by Friday 28 October, with Ms Truss to stay on as PM until then.
The last leadership election – triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson in July – lasted six weeks and involved several rounds of MPs voting and hustings.
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
Ms Truss officially took over from her predecessor on 6 September, with members favouring her tax-slashing plan for growth over rival Rishi Sunak’s more conservative fiscal policies.
But in an extraordinary turn of events, her short-lived premiership lasted just six weeks.
Ms Truss announced her resignation earlier on Thursday after she met Sir Graham and agreed for a leadership election “to be completed within the next week”.
It means her replacement will be in place before the crucial fiscal statement on 31 October.
After 44 days in the top job, Ms Truss will be the shortest-serving prime minister in modern British political history.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Liz Truss’s rise and fall
Her downfall was set in motion by her disastrous mini-budget, which sparked turmoil in the financial markets and forced her to U-turn on the tax-slashing agenda that brought her into office.
In her resignation statement outside Downing Street, Ms Truss said she recognised she could not “deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party”.
MPs call to ‘bring back Boris’
Speculation is mounting about who could replace Ms Truss, with many Conservative MPs calling for Boris Johnson to return.
But any comeback from the ex-PM is likely to be divisive, with other Tories describing such a move as a “fantasy” and “too soon”.
Read more:
We will have a new prime minister, but it’s hard to see how it stops the rot | Beth Rigby
Who is in the running to replace Liz Truss as prime minister?
Mr Johnson resigned following a number of scandals culminating in the Chris Pincher affair – which led to the collapse of support in his cabinet.
Having been found guilty of breaking his own lockdown laws, he is still the subject of an ongoing inquiry into whether he lied to the Commons over partygate.
Other MPs have thrown their weight behind Mr Sunak, the former chancellor and runner-up in the last leadership race.
Commons leader Ms Mordaunt, who came third, could also be set to throw her hat into the ring.
Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby says Ms Mordaunt is “taking soundings” on the matter.
‘Britain is not their personal fiefdom’
Opposition parties have said that, whoever wins the leadership race, a general election must be called immediately.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said the Conservative Party has “shown it no longer has a mandate to govern”, adding that British people “deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos”.
“Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish,” he said.
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
Read more from Sky News:
Who could replace Gary Lineker on Match Of The Day?
How do Labour avoid the Democrats’ fate?
Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
More from Sky News:
Ex-Fulham captain makes Al Fayed allegation
Timeline of accusations against ex-Harrods boss
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈
“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
Read more on this story:
‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway