Tough for Tories to replace Truss without a general election - Top Welsh Tory

Liz Truss arriving for her news briefing in which she said she was 'incredibly sorry' to lose her chancellor

There should be a general election if Liz Truss cannot "regain confidence" in her leadership, the Welsh Conservative leader has said.

Andrew RT Davies made the comments just before it was reported Kwasi Kwarteng had been sacked as chancellor.

The prime minister announced she was reversing her policy to scrap the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%.

Mr Davies said it was important for Ms Truss to "turn this situation around".

In an interview with Times Radio, he said: "It's important now that we reflect on where we're at, the prime minister seeks to regain that confidence, and if she can't regain that confidence, it would be right that people have their chance to have their say on this matter".

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He was asked to confirm that he was saying that Ms Truss failing to turn things around would mean there would have to be a general election.

"I think it would be very difficult to command public confidence in the situation where you change the leader again, in an internal party discussion," Mr Davies said.

"I think what's really important is that Liz Truss turns this situation around.

"She has a mandate from the leadership election, we have a manifesto from 2019, we have a solid platform to build on, albeit the last five weeks have been very difficult indeed, with some self-inflicted mistakes.

"Now we need to turn that situation back round and get on with the job to the people have purchasing power to deliver for them."

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Ms Truss held a brief news conference where she said it was clear that parts of the mini-budget went "further and faster" than markets were expecting "so the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change".

She added: "We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline".

The prime minister has faced calls to drop parts or all of her economic plan for days, to calm market turbulence and reassure her party.

The hustings event in Cardiff in August marked the first time Liz Truss had visited Wales since the leadership contest began

Former Welsh Secretary and current Clwyd West Conservative MP David Jones said: "Clearly this is a difficult time for the prime minister but all the members of the parliamentary party should now help restore stability by giving her their support.

"I am sure she realises the magnitude of the task but I believe she has it in her come out of these difficulties."

Lord Nick Bourne of Aberystwyth said the Conservatives had to "focus on what happens next rather than should we be in this mess, because of course we shouldn't".

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales Drive, he agreed with commentator Tim Montgomerie that the Conservatives "probably don't deserve to be in power at this moment".

Lord Bourne said on a personal level he felt very sorry for the Prime Minister but does not know what is in her mind or how long she has got

"It's painful when you look at the state of the markets, when you look at the position we're on with inflation, when you look at the position we're on with the cost of living crisis, we need a government which is going to get us out of this mess.

"We've got a Prime Minister who sadly is in massive difficulties, she's shredded the policies she was elected on, she's shredded the chancellor, and it's hard to see how she survives this, but the most important this is what happens to the country.

"It's not really what happens to the Prime Minister, it's how do we get the country through this very, very difficult position, and I think we need a change of leader to do that," he said.

Lord Bourne added he did not think a general election was the right way forward, but said it could not be long before Ms Truss would have to go.

He said there was a need for a change of policy, and someone who believed in it, and Rishi Sunak was that person.

Analysis by James Williams

"The question now is, when will the prime minister leave, not will she leave".

That's what one Welsh Conservative told me this week. Another said it didn't matter what "happens next, we've definitely lost the next election."

Other Welsh Tories are more supportive, accusing their colleagues of making political hay.

If you cast your mind back as far as 40 days ago, you'll remember Welsh Conservative MPs and Senedd Members were pretty equally split between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak by the end of the Conservative leadership contest.

Uniting a party around an economic plan criticised by your main opponent as a "moral failure" was always going to be tough but most were willing to give it a go.

Few would have predicted how quickly it would unravel.

Resignation call

The First Minister, Mark Drakeford said: "The Prime Minister is the architect of her own misfortunes. It is her decisions that have led to weeks of confusion and chaos.

"We must now see a period of stability and certainty so that we can support people and businesses through the massive challenges we face."

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts called for Ms Truss to quit, accusing her of seeking "to save her zombie premiership by making a scapegoat of Kwasi Kwarteng".

"She was the driver of this car crash, she must therefore take responsibility," Ms Roberts said.

"Liz Truss must recognise that the economic shock which has caused so much anxiety for people is her own fault. She must resign today."

Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds said Ms Truss should call a general election.

"This economic crisis we have been facing wasn't started by Kwasi Kwarteng alone, it was a direct consequence of Liz Truss' economic fantasies," she said.