County's Tory MPs call for leader who can 'unite' as opponents call for general election

While Shropshire's Tories have urged their colleagues to focus on restoring stability following Liz Truss' chaotic 44-day premiership, opposition parties have warned the public will not tolerate "another amateurish Tory being forced upon them".

The Conservatives are now scrambling to find a replacement for Mrs Truss, with the new leader set to become the third Prime Minister in just two months.

Mrs Truss' decision to stand down came as she accepted she could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected by her fellow party members.

The Conservative Party is now expected to install its next leader by next Friday.

The county's Conservatives, Ludlow MP Philip Dunne, Telford MP Lucy Allan, and Shrewsbury & Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski, all said the party needed a swift replacement, while Montgomeryshire Conservative Craig Williams said he hoped Rishi Sunak would stand.

Mr Dunne, who ran Jeremy Hunt's campaign during the last leadership contest, praised Mrs Truss' decision to bring in the former Health Secretary as chancellor, but said the events of this week had shown that she did not have the support of her party, and that the focus now had to be on restoring stability.

He said: "I think she made a very sensible decision in appointing Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor of the Exchequer, which clearly provided some stability to the markets and the party but events subsequently this week showed she had real problems in commanding the authority of the party.

"She has made her decision and now we need to act extremely quickly to put in place a new leader, behind who the parliamentary party can unite, and provide the stability and good governance the country needs."

Ms Allan said: "This a very difficult time for the country. We need political stability. I hope we can find someone who can unite the party and take the country forward. Whoever wins a leadership contest deserves the full support of MPs and must be allowed to govern."

Mr Williams, who is Mr Sunak's former Parliamentary Private Secretary and worked on his leadership campaign, said he hoped his old boss would stand again.

Mr Williams said: "I very much hope Rishi stands and I very much hope he becomes leader. We have a huge economic crisis ahead of us and I think he has the proven record of dealing with economic challenges such as the pandemic, the early days of the war in Ukraine. He has an amazing brain and work ethic and I always know if he is Prime Minister he is going to talk truth to power and tell me how it is, not how I want it to be."

But North Shropshire's Liberal Democrat MP, Helen Morgan, was incredulous at the prospect of another Conservative Prime Minister who has not been elected by the public.

She said: "People are facing really huge challenges in their everyday lives, whether that is in health care, that they have had a horrible experience waiting for an ambulance, that they are struggling to pay their bills, and we have this saga going on in 10 Downing Street and we cannot have Downing Street treated as a rolling door for the next failed Conservative."

The Labour leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Shaun Davies, added: "It is now time for people to decide who should form the next government, not a bunch of Conservative MPs who got us into this mess.

"There must be a general election."