History-makers
The Tory party has fallen to the lowest level of support in British polling history, following the resignation of Liz Truss.
On Thursday, Truss confirmed in a statement outside Number 10 that she has decided to resign from her position as Prime Minister following a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs.
By resigning, she confirmed her place in the history book as the shortest serving Prime Minister in British history. She served just 44 days in office, smashing the previous record set by George Canning, who died in 1827 after 119 days in office.
But it doesn’t look like Keir Starmer and millions of others will get their wish of an early general election, with the Tories keen to avoid such an eventuality whilst their popularity is at an all-time low.
GOOD MORNING https://t.co/QOMF0zOIII
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) October 21, 2022
A new poll from British adults conducted by People Polling on Thursday had the Conservatives at just 14 percent.
According to pollster Matt Goodwin this is the “lowest level of support in British polling history.”
He added that he had “never seen” anything like this in his lifetime, and that the Tory Party’s “on life support.”
I've never seen this in my lifetime. The closest was 17% during the Brexit meltdown in the spring of 2019. The party is now only holding 29% of people who voted for Boris Johnson in 2019 and 19% of Brexit voters.
— Matt Goodwin (@GoodwinMJ) October 21, 2022
The Conservative Party is arguably the most successful party in the world.
Today, it's on life support.
— Matt Goodwin (@GoodwinMJ) October 21, 2022
By next week, the country will have its third prime minister in just two months as Truss announced the Conservative party would hold a fast-tracked leadership election.
Candidates for the Tory leadership will need at least 100 nominations from Tory MPs to enter the contest, significantly higher than the last contest, where only 20 nominations were needed.
Because there are only 357 Tory MPs, a maximum of three candidates will be able to enter the race.
The current front runners are Rishi Sunak (who Truss of course beat in the leadership election last month), Penny Mordaunt and a certain Mr Johnson…
Related links:
- Elizabeth II spent more time meeting PMs than Liz Truss did being one
- Liz Truss entitled to £115,000 a year for the rest of her life – despite only being PM for 44 days
- Truss resignation sparks market recovery – with pound shooting up
