Liz Truss’ exit as Britain’s prime minister is biggest political coup in 30+ years
The prime minister, Theresa May, lost her majority in a bitterly fought general election. She needs to win a confidence vote in the House of Commons to stay in power. What’s next?
As Britain’s prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May is the world’s first woman prime minister… and its biggest political coup in 30+ years.
The Tory leader has already made some of her biggest decisions since taking office. She has already decided to put her cabinet into line with her wishes (by axing several members) and has already taken a hard line on Europe (though she still wants a deal on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU). While she has so far held firm against the idea of allowing a “hard Brexit” to replace one that could be “soft”, she promised the EU that she would not leave without a deal.
Just weeks ahead of a general election, she has already said she expects to win. But now, she faces another challenge from her own backbenchers.
Theresa May has made a pact with her party with the general election only a few months away. While she may still hold an overall majority in Parliament, she’s not going to have enough MPs to get her deal through.
And yet, May is facing a rebellion led by the European Research Group and the “Tory hardliners” – the backbench MPs who would love to see her go.
Liz Truss has said that she and colleagues in the TIGER group will take the next few weeks to consider their options in the face of a revolt led by Eurosceptics. But the threat of rebellion is high.
May’s plan: to have a general election and a fresh election in which she wins by a larger margin than any other party, a move described as “the biggest political coup in 30+ years” by the FT
This is the second major challenge she has faced over the past week. Just a few weeks ago, May took a hard line on Europe with a “No Deal” Brexit bill that would be a step-change in the UK’s departure from the EU. Yet she did not win