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Liz Truss: How could the prime minister be replaced? Liz Truss resignation: How will new PM be chosen?
(3 days later)
Having sacked her chancellor and U-turned on a series of key measures in her government's mini-budget, a number of Conservative MPs have called for the removal of Liz Truss as party leader. Liz Truss has announced her resignation as prime minister. She will step down from the job when her successor as Conservative Party leader is found within a week.
New chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned against ousting the PM, but what are the ways Tory MPs could force Ms Truss to step down? The new leader will become the fifth Conservative prime minister in six years.
Party pressure How will the Conservatives elect a new leader?
Either the Cabinet - made up of senior members of the government - or a large group of Tory MPs could apply political pressure by telling the PM she has lost their confidence and needs to go. Nominations to succeed Ms Truss as the next Conservative Party leader and PM are now open and will close at 1400 BST on Monday 24 October.
Some Tory backbenchers, including Crispin Blunt and Jamie Wallis, have publicly called on Ms Truss to stand down. To enter the contest, candidates will require at least 100 nominations from Conservative MPs.
Political pressure forced Margaret Thatcher to resign in 1990, despite having defeated Michael Heseltine in the first round of a leadership challenge. Mrs Thatcher stood down after her Cabinet refused to back her in the second round. This is considerably higher than the last contest, where only 20 nominations were needed.
Boris Johnson - Ms Truss's predecessor - resigned following a mass revolt by ministers over his leadership in July. The resignation came a month after Mr Johnson had survived a confidence vote. As there are currently 357 Tory MPs, a maximum of three candidates will be able to progress.
Many Tory MPs are doom-laden - what will they do next? If only one person reaches the 100 threshold on Monday they will become the next leader, and thus the new prime minister, without the contest going to the next stage.
A confidence vote If there is more than one candidate with enough nominations, there will be a ballot of Conservative MPs between 1530 BST and 1730 BST on Monday.
Each political party has its own rules on leadership challenges. In the event that there are two candidates in that ballot, it will be indicative (ie showing levels of support among MPs).
In the Conservatives' case, at least 15% of sitting Tory MPs have to write a letter saying they no longer have confidence in the party leader. If there are three candidates, the one with the fewest number of votes will be eliminated with the result announced at 1800 BST. There would then be an indicative vote between 1830 and 2030 BST the same day with the result announced at 2100 BST.
The 15% threshold currently works out as 54 MPs. If there are two candidates at the end of the ballots, ie no-one withdraws after the indicative vote, party members will take part in an online vote to decide the winner.
Letters of no confidence are sent to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee - the organisation representing all backbench Conservative MPs. These are MPs that are not government ministers. Before the vote among party members closes, it is hoped the two candidates will take part in a television debate.
However, under the 1922 committee's current rules a new leader cannot be challenged in their first year. The winner will be declared by Friday 28 October.
So unless the rules are changed, Ms Truss could not be removed this way. Will party members definitely be involved?
Boris Johnson survived a confidence vote, but still resigned as PM a month later. Removing party members from the voting process would probably have required a change to the Conservative Party's constitution.
Any rule change would have to be agreed by the executive committee of the 1922. But the rule requiring a vote of members only applies if there are two remaining candidates. When Theresa May became leader in 2016 her opponent Andrea Leadsom dropped out. This meant Mrs May became party leader without a vote being put to members.
If they were changed - and the threshold was reached - a vote of no confidence in the sitting leader would then be held. This vote is usually organised very quickly, with the leader requiring a majority of Tory MPs taking part to back them in order to carry on. So even if two candidates emerge in this contest, it's possible the members won't get the final say.
Hunt warns Tory MPs against ousting PM How is the next prime minister appointed?
What was in the mini-budget and what has changed? Whoever wins the contest to lead the Conservatives will become the leader of the party with the largest number of MPs in Parliament.
Who is in charge? Liz Truss or Jeremy Hunt? The King will therefore ask them to form a government, becoming the UK's next prime minister in the process.
A motion of no confidence Who could replace Liz Truss as prime minister?
A motion of no confidence is a vote where all MPs - not just Conservatives - get to vote on whether they have confidence in the government to continue. Could there be an early election?
If Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer introduced this motion, convention means that the government would need to provide time for a debate and a vote in Parliament. How was Ms Truss chosen?
In order to pass, the motion needs just one more MP voting in favour than against. The summer leadership contest, which Ms Truss won, was held over a much longer period of three months.
James Callaghan was the last PM to lose a no-confidence vote in 1979. Candidates were only able to enter the race if they had the backing of at least 20 Tory MPs.
For this to happen, however, Conservative MPs would need to vote down their own government - something many would be very unlikely to do. Eight contenders emerged - including Ms Truss.
But assuming a vote was held and the government lost, there are two possible outcomes. In the contest's first stage, Tory MPs chose two candidates to go forward to a vote of the wider membership of the party.
The most likely is that Parliament would be dissolved and a general election called. In these circumstance, Ms Truss would not be obliged to resign. To do this, the Tory party's 358 MPs whittled down the field with a series of votes.
It is also possible that the King could invite somebody else to form a government - someone who could win a vote of confidence in the House of Commons. Anyone who received less than 30 votes or came last in each round was eliminated. The process continued until the two final candidates - Ms Truss and former chancellor Rishi Sunak - remained.
How do Tory leadership contests work? In stage two, Conservative Party members chose the winner in a postal and online vote lasting several weeks.
If the PM did step down, there are currently two stages to choosing a new Conservative leader. When the result was announced on 5 September, Ms Truss won 81,326 votes among party members, compared with 60,399 for Mr Sunak.
Firstly, Tory MPs choose two candidates to go forward to a vote of the wider membership of the party.
If necessary, Tory MPs whittle down the field to these two with a series of ballots where the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated after each round.
In the second stage, party members vote for the winner.
In the contest held over the summer, Ms Truss won 81,326 votes among party members, compared with 60,399 for her rival Rishi Sunak.
But if one of the candidates withdraws, the remaining candidate becomes Conservative Party leader without a final vote. This happened when Theresa May became leader in 2016.
The 1922 Committee sets the contest's timetable and rules. However, this only applies to the stages in Parliament.
Removing party members from the voting process would likely require a change to the Conservative party's constitution.
Will there be a general election?Will there be a general election?
There isn't automatically a general election when a new PM is appointed.There isn't automatically a general election when a new PM is appointed.
If Ms Truss stays (or a new Tory PM takes over) and decides not to call an early election, the next one does not have to be held until January 2025 at the latest. If the new PM decides not to call an early election, the next one does not have to be held until January 2025 at the latest.
Could there be an early election?Could there be an early election?