Tim Loughton, a former minister, told Radio 4’s PM programme that he wanted Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Jeremy Hunt and Ben Wallace – whom he described as the four “big beasts” in the party – to form an alliance and agree who should be prime minister. He said:
If those four people can come together and agree as to which one of them is going to be the prime minister candidate, then we won’t have to have an election, and then it’s incumbent on all of my parliamentary colleagues to weigh in behind them, and we can get back to some degree of normality.
When asked if that would be acceptable to rightwingers such as Suella Braverman, who wants to stand herself, Loughton replied:
People need to park all those egos. They need to put aside all the baggage and all the prejudices they might have had about certain candidates in the past. This is a really urgent situation, urgent for the Conservative party, or parliament, most importantly for the country. We need to have a united and talented cabinet of grownups who come together and get us back on course.
This may have been what Theresa May meant with her “compromise” message to Tory MPs. See 4.10pm.
Anyone hoping to snap up one of the £14.99 Liz Truss mugs branded with “In Liz We Truss” from the Tory party’s official shop will be disappointed. They’ve been withdrawn in the wake of the prime minister’s resignation.
Potential investors going to the web page of the Conservative party shop which once hosted the items are greeted with a “404” message and an “Opps! Have no idea what just happened”.
Looking for that 'In Liz we Truss' mug from the Conservative shop?
In fact, all Truss-related memorabilia appears to have been expunged from the website’s “Leaders” section, where a range of Boris Johnson-related merchandise including toby jugs, a Brexit jigsaw and clothing are still available.
“In Liz We Truss” mugs on sale at the Tory conference. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Tory party could be finished if this leadership election goes wrong, MPs warn
Robert Jenrick, the former communities secretary, has said the Conservative party could “cease to exist” if it messes up this leadership election. In an interview with the News Agent podcast, he said:
This isn’t an ordinary leadership contest. It’s more extraordinary than the one we had in the summer.
If we get this wrong, the country will face a very serious period of further instability and the Conservative party will lose the next general election; potentially cease to exist.
The Tory MP Mark Garnier said much the same on Radio 4’s PM programme a few minutes ago. He said:
This is an existential moment, I suspect, of the Conservative party. If we don’t come together and recognise our survival relies on us to get together, if we fall apart, it could be the end of the party.
Shares in London have closed higher tonight, on hopes that the UK’s political turmoil could ease soon, my colleague Graeme Wearden writes on his business live blog.
Guardian Live are holding a panel discussion on how long the Tory government can survive on Wednesday next week (26 October) at 7pm. My colleague John Crace and other Guardian journalists will be taking part. You can get tickets here.
Starmer says re-election of Johnson as Tory leader would make case for early election even stronger
The Labour leader Keir Starmer said his party has a manifesto “ready to go” if there is an early election. In an interview with the BBC’s Newscast podcast, he said:
There’s a manifesto that is going to be ready whenever an election is called. I’ve had a team working on that. I’ve had a team working on general election preparedness. We’ve moved our teams on to a general election footing. And I’ve got in place all the grids I need for a general election. So we’re very, very prepared, should there be a general election.
Starmer also said that, if the Tories were to replace Liz Truss with Boris Johnson, that would make the case for an early election even stronger. He explained:
Let’s remember that it was three months ago pretty much that he resigned in disgrace. He resigned because dozens of his frontbench [colleagues] were resigning themselves, saying he was unfit for office …
So if they’re going to go from this experiment, this chaos, this economic damage, [and] wind back three months to a man who was deemed to be unfit for office, I think that only adds insult to injury for the public [who will be] knocking on the door saying: ‘Hang on, why can’t we have a say on this?’
The public clamour for an early election is strong. Almost all the opposition parties are calling for one, as well as organistions like trade unions.
But however ridiculous the idea of the governing party changing leader twice without calling an election may seem, the Tories will not call one when they are so far behind in the polls. And the only mechanism available for forcing one is for the opposition to call a no confidence vote, which the government loses. That is not likely either.
Keir Starmer speaking at the TUC conference earlier today. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Rex/Shutterstock
It is hard for any of us to resist saying “I told you so”, and Michel Barnier, the former EU Brexit negotiator, is no exception. He posted this message on Twitter this morning. It came before Liz Truss announced her resignation, but the point applies all the same.
No one should or can be happy about the political & economic turmoil in the UK. There are so many reasons today we must find stability and cooperate, across Europe. Not all of these difficulties are due to Brexit, I am simply convinced that Brexit makes everything more difficult.
Truss was not brought down by Brexit. But she had to resign because she won the leadership – and perhaps could only win the leadership – on a rightwing, populist policy platform that appalled the financial markets, and then the electorate, when she tried to implement it. The Conservative party has always had rightwingers as part of its membership, but since Brexit they have been the dominant faction.
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