The chancellor was dispatched soon after touching down, but Tory colleagues were not convinced that was enough to save the PM
As the clock reached closer to midnight,finished deliberating about heading home from Washington DC to attempt to save his political career.
The mood of Tory MPs was already toxic, given their party conference in Birmingham had been plagued by a series of U-turns and blue-on-blue attacks. But to test the feeling of the public, Kwarteng did a walkabout through his leafy constituency of Spelthorne, in Surrey, last Friday.While passing an estate agent, he waved through the window and stopped when a woman inside got up, seemingly to greet him.
However, Truss’s continued refusal, both in public at prime minister’s questions and in private behind closed doors, to demonstrate remorse and a willingness to water down her economic policies left many reeling. Whitehall sources said Kwarteng had been pushing for a total retreat on the promise to scrap a corporation tax rise from 19% to 25%, while Truss dug in and wanted to go for something smaller. However, she eventually acquiesced and decided someone else should “carry the can”.
MPs watched agog – almost disbelieving – as they saw Truss take a handful of questions before exiting the stage after seven minutes to the cry of “Aren’t you going to say sorry?”Previously loyal supporters said the game was up. “She is removing every reason why I voted for her,” said one. Another said colleagues were “giving up on her”. “There are weekend gatherings and she will be told to go on Monday,” they sighed.
An alternative idea that gained some traction over the week was making candidates agree in advance that when they are whittled down to two, the person with the fewest votes will drop out – leaving a winner without the need for a runoff decided by members.
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