Tory right 'plotting Liz Truss-type leader to replace Sunak after election'

In the wake of an impending general election defeat, Tory right-wingers have hatched a plot to install a Liz Truss-type leader, a move that would push the Conservatives further to the right in opposition.

Ms Truss spoke in February at the launch of the so-called Popular Conservatism (PopCons) movement, which hopes to ensure the free-market libertarian Conservatives win the subsequent expected leadership election.

Meanwhile, a major poll suggests the Conservatives will win just 90 seats at this election, down from 364 in 2019, while Labor is expected to win 459 seats.

Liz Truss’ participation in PopCons seen as a way to influence future leadership competitions
(PA line)

The historic defeat could unseat Rishi Sunak, sparking a race for the Tory leadership.

PopCons is now led by former Institute of Economic Affairs director Mark Littlewood, who Ms Truss is seeking to grant a peerage, and the group has devised a plan to ensure the group’s preferred candidate wins .

Mr Littlewood is reported to have told friends that the candidate chosen by PopCons will need the support of 70 MPs and 70,000 Conservative Party members.

Sources working with PopCon Tell era Priti Patel is the group’s favorite candidate if Mr Sunak loses the next election and steps down.

One person told the newspaper: “There is a war going on and we are going to win the war. We need to reinvigorate free market views within the Conservative Party.”

Another said: “The Liz team is happy with PopCon as part of Priti’s leadership battle. She is Liz’s preferred candidate, without a doubt.”

One moderate Conservative MP told *independent* A shift to the right could send Tories into a ‘doom spiral’
(Paul Ellis/PA Wire)

But one moderate Conservative MP told independent A shift to the right after an electoral defeat would be a “failure to learn the lessons of 1997” and would plunge the party into a “doom spiral”.

William Hague, who succeeded John Major after Tony Blair’s landslide victory, was criticized for pushing the party to the right to appeal to its core supporters but failing to appeal to the wider electorate.

Senior Conservative MP interviewed independent It was more optimistic than recent polls, which showed the Conservatives had fallen below 100 seats, but said the Conservatives would be “lucky” to get 200 seats.

It comes amid growing speculation that a group of so-called “conspirators” might even try to overthrow Mr Sunak before the election. The Prime Minister faces a series of tough local elections on May 2 in which the Conservatives could lose hundreds of local council seats and even key Tory metropolitan mayors.

Ms Truss herself has ruled out running for the Tory leadership again but defended her disastrous tenure as prime minister, saying “a very powerful economic establishment did not give her a realistic chance to implement my policies” , and lacks political support.”

Other MPs believed to be preparing for the next leadership contest include Defense Secretary Grant Shapps and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman and former immigration secretary Robert Jenrick are also expected to run.

Business Secretary Kemi Badenock is also seen as a possible contender in the race.