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Whilst CON MPs don’t decide who leads they can sack the winner – politicalbetting.com

If the YouGov polling of CON members is right then the party is about to choose as leader someone who is not the first choice of Tory MPs.
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Yes she wasn't in prior rounds of voting, but Mordaunt was eliminated in the final MP-only voting and then her votes weren't redistributed prior to the final, public round of voting. Mordaunt is backing Truss as are more of her MPs which is why Truss is in the lead on MPs now, ahead of Sunak.
It could be argued that some of those now backing Truss are only doing so as she's the expected winner, but its also true that some might have been backing Sunak when he was the long-term favourite for the same reason too so that's just swings and roundabouts.
Bottom line, Truss has more MPs backing her, and probably more members doing so too. She is the first choice.
1.07 Liz Truss 93%
14 Rishi Sunak 7%
Next Conservative leader
1.07 Liz Truss 93%
14 Rishi Sunak 7%
... Cynically, though, one has to ask how many of those mps have chosen to back her out of hope of preferment.
Previously he'd said he wouldn't bother, so one presumes that either he's feeling so confident that he doesn't see any downside. Or... he's worried.
Nato is assessing the impact of a data breach of classified military documents being sold by a hacker group online.
The data includes blueprints of weapons being used by Nato allies in the Ukraine conflict.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-62672184
Oops.
“ Eon have just quoted me £13,065 annually for a fixed dual fuel contract after my current fixed contract ends. We’re a family of three in an old, poorly insulated house and currently pay £250 pcm. How the f*ck is anyone going to survive this sort of increase?”
https://www.reddit.com/r/GreenAndPleasant/comments/wxmv3k/eon_have_just_quoted_me_13065_annually_for_a/
Greenandpleasant is, from what I can tell, of the BJO school of politics (Corbynista, very anti-Tory, anti Kier) - seems to get a lot of traction on Reddit.
They’re desperate and angry and getting angrier.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/france-demands-extra-110m-britain-liz-truss-priti-patel-channel-migrants-d62ck52jk (£££)
“ Anyone have an idea for a nutrisious, cheap, non-cooked meal to live off of during Winter?
Just looking for a cheap meal, easily made without cooking to avoid using the oven. Doesn’t have to look/taste good, just be enough to keep me sustained during winter months.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/wx8bsr/anyone_have_an_idea_for_a_nutrisious_cheap/
There are a lot of really desperate people out there. One hell of a challenge for Truss to reconcile her “Brittania Unchained” unashamed neoliberalism with the desperation many in the country are already facing.
And it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19620632/queen-appoint-new-pm-balmoral/
The Sun's front page suggests the new Prime Minister (and presumably the outgoing one) will need to travel to Balmoral on 6th September (the day after results are due to be announced).
More than half of small businesses fear sky-high energy bills could force them to close before end of winter
There has been a sharp increase in the number of companies applying for credit between April and July
Small firms are vulnerable to bill hikes because they are not protected by energy watchdog Ofgem's price cap
Many businesses pay 20% VAT on their energy bills - whereas most ordinary households pay just 5%
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11142035/Restaurants-pubs-cafes-shops-small-businesses-forced-close-energy-bills-bite.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwIjRwFF_vg&t=1461s
Liz Truss (or the other guy) will want to make it harder to challenge an incumbent Prime Minister, of course, but that is not the issue since none of the last three leadership races was triggered by the Prime Minister losing a confidence vote.
The obvious change would be not to consult the wider membership at all in choosing a new Prime Minister. At least MPs, having themselves been elected, can claim they represent their constituents, but this is not quite satisfactory because it leaves out Conservatives in losing seats, and bases MPs' claim to legitimacy on their also representing Labour and other voters.
It might be that the election should be run backwards, so that voluntary party members choose the shortlist from whom the parliamentary party makes the final selection. This would satisfy the needs of party democracy but also avoid the issue identified in the header of having an unsatisfactory and unpopular new leader and Prime Minister foisted on MPs. With online voting, the whole process could be condensed to a week or even two days now the software is in place.
Betfair next prime minister
1.07 Liz Truss 93%
14 Rishi Sunak 7%
Next Conservative leader
1.07 Liz Truss 93%
15 Rishi Sunak 7%
It's longer than a general election l
Listening to 5 live business this morning they projected energy price increases will see a hit of 139 billion on consumers in the next 12 months and is virtually equivalent to the whole NHS budget
It is clear that relief has to be targeted and providing universal relief to everyone including celebrities, footballers, and company bosses is not sustainable
I have grave reservations how Truss or anyone can mitigate this sufficiently, but there are real dangers for Starmer
The demand to nationalise energy and indeed the water companies and royal mail will become very loud and threaten Starmer's present policies
I notice in yesterday's local election the lib dems had another success over the conservative but labour also lost vote share in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire which does not seem to match the polling for labour in red wall seats
I do not believe any politician here or abroad has a clue how to deal with this tsunami of an economic disaster
It doesn’t help when Johnson says this is the price we must pay to support Ukraine.
Politicians and their talking heads on tv are blaming this on corporate excess and some are selling us a story that nationalisation will simply makes this go away.
Small businesses are going to be destroyed by this and the politicians are doing nothing. Discretionary spending will collapse.
I will be watching Jay Powells speech today with interest. The US seems to be managing this crisis better than most.
Still Liz offers hope not handouts.
Welcome to the Truss winter of discontent. Vote Conservative you feckless beggars demanding handouts.
Businesses are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If a pub has to put the price of a pint up to £14 or go bust, it's going to go bust anyway because nobody is going to go to the pub for a £14 pint. So places will just close for the winter.
The only good news is we won't be interfered with by police for leaving our homes, standing less than two metres apart or (one hopes) attending protests. I hear setting things on fire is a good way of keeping warm...
That tweet does not say that at all
https://twitter.com/RobDotHutton/status/1563049547479515137
January 2023: £5386
April 2023: £6616
£551 per month… not far off an average mortgage of £700 https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1563049747354910720/photo/1
Truss last night: “What isn’t right is to just bung more money into the system, what we actually need to do is fix the supply of energy.”
So for the next week and a half she and her team of Borisites will continue to repeat this mantra. No handouts for you workshy plebs. Some said "she will unveil a plan" - does last night suggest that? And even if she is forced to do so, the damage to her and to the remains of her party will be catastrophic.
Beverley Rural (East Riding) By-Election Result:
LDM: 59.4% (+36.0)
CON: 34.1% (-10.5)
LAB: 6.5% (-5.2)
No GRN (-20.4) as prev.
Lib Dem GAIN from Conservative.
Changes w/ 2019.
Anti-tory accounts are already tweeting how much Tory MPS claimed in expenses for heating this year.
Truss is facing a tsunami of bad press, and has no plan to deal with it
Our shitbox government can't admit there is a problem, and wouldn't agree a solution as its just "bungs" to the "workshy".
So yes, we need furlough again. We need the new cap scrapped and the old reinstated. And we need an honest conversation with people about this winter. Wear more layers. Switch everything off if you can. Ask your employer for help with heating bills if they are asking you to work from home.
Yes we know what is happening in Ukraine. But it is grotesque to blame the whole thing on Putin and say "stiff upper lip what what".
https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2022/08/how-boris-johnson-comes-back
However, she is not PM yet and I can understand why she is remaining stoical on this as she cannot be seen to assume she will be PM in the next 10 days
There is a huge amount of justified criticism but then a lot is coming from opponents of the government who would be so no matter what the government decided on to mitigate this disaster
I am a very embarrassed conservative and accept that they are likely to lose in 2024, but on recent evidence the protest vote is going to the lib dems
Any price on a lib dem led government in 2024 ?
All hot drinks at work
Perhaps even hot meals only at work (microwave)
Is it because the PM is basically checked out already and on permanent holiday, leading to paralysis at the heart of government? Or is it because the incoming PM is incompetent?
We need an announcement, now (or preferably yesterday) of the type you describe.
Even this morning, as the tripling is announced, the Chancellor of the Exchequer not only says no more bungs, but says we should all be appreciative of the bungs we've had.
Labour’s plan is flawed, but it is the quickest and easiest way to stop the pain for those on the lowest incomes and, crucially, the just about managing. Truss can’t do what Labour has proposed, but what she does put forward has to have the same effect for anyone in the standard tax bracket, at least.
Maybe she really is planning war with France as a diversion!
Good luck, Liz.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/check-if-energy-price-cap-affects-you
Because if it is, British Gas are charging me more than that. So they're breaking it.
You are underestimating how much people will look at their gas bills and demand that something must be done.
You are twisting words and indeed changing context which is not for the first time
They are a HMG quango and will operate precisely and strictly according to the rules that have been laid down for them.
They are no way incentivised to take risk - which would effectively mean refusing to lift the cap and pushing more energy companies into administration - and would be politically eviscerated if they had the temerity to do so.
So, its employees really have only two choices: comply, or resign.
The outgoing PM doesn't have to resign in person. It can be done by letter.
It would however be the first time a PM has been appointed on Scottish soil. Coincidence? Or a typically kack-handed attempt to shore up the Union?
Swingeing defence cuts must be baked in at this point because the government can do shitloads of reduced spending there without the voters really noticing.
He has quite literally announced there is no new money and then restated the money there has been.
Yes, he is working flat out on options for the new PM - good. But he won't be chancellor, and the new PM and her team literally last night spoke out against the idea of "bunging more money into the system".
You still believe in the principle that Tory politicians are good people. And they were. But these aren't the Tories you supported. This lot don't care.
Meanwhile there is wall to wall coverage of energy price rises.
It would take a strange kind of UK resident not to put the two together. Right now.
Good to get out the London centric mindset. Make the new PM drive/public transport up here and maybe we will get some infrastructure spending in the north.
So they basically just dug their heads in the sand for the past few months.