UK PM race: Liz Truss warned to take care of ‘deeply divided’ Tory as Partygate row looms
Ere Liz Truss takes charge of the UK’s leadership, senior Tories warned her that she needs to take extra care as she would be dealing with a ‘divided’ Tory.
The United Kingdom is set to welcome its new Prime Minister on September 5, with projection polls speculating Foreign Secretary Liz Truss would lead the country until the next elections. However, before Truss could take charge of the country’s leadership, senior Tories warned her that she needs to take extra care as she would be dealing with a ‘deeply divided’ Tory party.
This warning comes as Truss has to welcome senior figures from across the party – including critics of outgoing PM Boris Johnson – in her Cabinet, if elected as Premiere.
Among those whose role would be critical include Johnson loyalists and rightwingers such as John Redwood and Iain Duncan Smith, according to senior figures in the party. A former Tory cabinet minister and critic of Johnson, on Saturday, ascertained there would be a critical situation if Truss allies such as Duncan Smith and Nadine Dorries would be appointed to top positions. He feared the situation may turn ‘explosive’, if both leaders would try to influence a parliamentary inquiry into whether the outgoing PM deliberately misled parliament.
“If she wins, then on policy issues, including budget issues, most colleagues will take the view that she deserves the chance to put her plans into effect. She will get things through parliament. But if her government tries to do things on the integrity questions, I think there could be trouble quite early on. That would be explosive,” The Guardian quoted the former cabinet minister as saying.
Notably, Smith has mentioned his name in a parliamentary motion that advocates for an investigation against Boris Johnson on whether he deliberately misled parliament by refusing facts of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street. The former Cabinet minister believes it would be a difficult situation for Truss as her major energy and resources would go towards keeping Johnson’s allies happy while dealing with the country’s inflation and other serious issues. Meanwhile, David Davis, who is also a Johnson critic, believes Truss has to keep the parliament united in all odd situations.
Boris Johnson urges Tories to maintain unity
“It is incredibly important that the incoming leader knits the party together. It was one of Boris’s earliest failures that he did not do that. He just picked the loyalists and as a result, it made it more and more difficult to manage the party,” said Davis. The same has been echoed by Johnson in a UK-based publication. Johnson urged Tories to put an end to in-fighting and unite behind their new leader. In an article published on Sunday Express, he said they must back his successor “wholeheartedly” to stand a chance of winning the next election.
It is worth mentioning here that Rishi Sunak, then UK Chancellor, initiated trouble for Johnson, by tendering his resignation with his colleague and health minister Sajid Javid. His abrupt decision led to the mass resignation of ministers which eventually led to the unceremonious exit of Johnson, who had proved his majority in the Parliament in June this year.
