The Conservative Party’s leadership rules make it too easy to sack prime ministers and should be changed, Lord Lamont has said.
The former chancellor said backbenchers already discontented with Liz Truss should support or “grin and bear” it as he warned against another “farcical” change of leader.
Lord Lamont said the current threshold for a vote of no confidence, which requires letters from 54 MPs, was a “very low bar” considering the unpopular decisions any Government would inevitably make.
Speaking to The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast, he said: “I am concerned about the rapidity with which prime ministers have come and gone.
“The leadership rules should be changed. It is too easy for Tory MPs to get rid of prime ministers mid term. There is a regrettable trend of the Tories changing prime ministers between elections.
“We need to calm down and get our house in order. I think they’ve got to calm down, got to grin and bear it, got to realise we’ve a difficult time ahead – and they’ve got to basically support the Government.”
Lord Lamont, who was at Number 11 during Black Wednesday in 1992, also agreed with claims that Ms Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, had “crashed the economy” with their mini-Budget last month, calling on them to reset their administration.
“The Government delivered a statement that was not well received by the markets,” he said. “But the fundamental move up in interest rates was already happening, and would have happened anyway.
“I think the Government has got the chance to re-examine the proposals they put forward, represent them and try to involve a clearer, more coherent strategy.”
Lord Lamont, who supported Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership election, also urged Ms Truss to rein in “deeply damaging” rhetoric, which he said had started on the campaign trail, attacking “Treasury orthodoxy”.
He suggested the Prime Minister should gradually build her radicalism, rather than attempting to impose a wide-ranging package of reforms straight away.
Who was the last prime minister to be sacked by the party?
Didn’t Boris just basically say no when told to resign? Didn’t seem that easy to me.
The tory party very very very very very clearly no longer has a mandate from the people.
The entire party shouldn’t be in power anymore, never mind yet another unelected PM. You can’t sack these idiots easily enough! Make it easier to get rid of someone clearly not wanted by a very large majority of the country. it’s meant to be a democracy.
Genuine question – why would anyone seek wisdom from the guy who caused the conservative party to implode in the 90s?
How about you stop putting farcically awful leaders in charge of your party Norman. The problem is not that it’s too easy to get rid of PMs it’s that your PM’s are terrible and need to be removed.
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The Conservative Party’s leadership rules make it too easy to sack prime ministers and should be changed, Lord Lamont has said.
The former chancellor said backbenchers already discontented with Liz Truss should support or “grin and bear” it as he warned against another “farcical” change of leader.
Lord Lamont said the current threshold for a vote of no confidence, which requires letters from 54 MPs, was a “very low bar” considering the unpopular decisions any Government would inevitably make.
Speaking to The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast, he said: “I am concerned about the rapidity with which prime ministers have come and gone.
“The leadership rules should be changed. It is too easy for Tory MPs to get rid of prime ministers mid term. There is a regrettable trend of the Tories changing prime ministers between elections.
“We need to calm down and get our house in order. I think they’ve got to calm down, got to grin and bear it, got to realise we’ve a difficult time ahead – and they’ve got to basically support the Government.”
Lord Lamont, who was at Number 11 during Black Wednesday in 1992, also agreed with claims that Ms Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, had “crashed the economy” with their mini-Budget last month, calling on them to reset their administration.
“The Government delivered a statement that was not well received by the markets,” he said. “But the fundamental move up in interest rates was already happening, and would have happened anyway.
“I think the Government has got the chance to re-examine the proposals they put forward, represent them and try to involve a clearer, more coherent strategy.”
Lord Lamont, who supported Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership election, also urged Ms Truss to rein in “deeply damaging” rhetoric, which he said had started on the campaign trail, attacking “Treasury orthodoxy”.
He suggested the Prime Minister should gradually build her radicalism, rather than attempting to impose a wide-ranging package of reforms straight away.
Who was the last prime minister to be sacked by the party?
Didn’t Boris just basically say no when told to resign? Didn’t seem that easy to me.
The tory party very very very very very clearly no longer has a mandate from the people.
The entire party shouldn’t be in power anymore, never mind yet another unelected PM. You can’t sack these idiots easily enough! Make it easier to get rid of someone clearly not wanted by a very large majority of the country. it’s meant to be a democracy.
Genuine question – why would anyone seek wisdom from the guy who caused the conservative party to implode in the 90s?
How about you stop putting farcically awful leaders in charge of your party Norman. The problem is not that it’s too easy to get rid of PMs it’s that your PM’s are terrible and need to be removed.