United Kingdom

UK Conservatives race to fix Truss chaos as party faces electoral wipeout

Leadership contest aimed at ensuring winner has broad support as backers of Boris Johnson eye comeback

Most Tory MPs didn’t want Truss to win, but her small-state, low-tax vision won over grassroots members. Picture: Getty

The UK Conservative Party is desperate to draw a line under Liz Truss’s disastrous premiership, with a rapid leadership contest aimed at trying to give the winner a shot at overturning an unprecedented deficit in the polls.

Under rules announced on Thursday, a maximum of three Tory MPs will be able to run. The next leader could be decided as soon as Monday, because once the field has been whittled down to two, the candidate ...