'The game is up': Tory MPs publicly call for Liz Truss to resign

Watch: 'Game is up' for Liz Truss says Tory MP Crispin Blunt

A number of Conservative MPs have publicly called for Liz Truss to resign as the prime minister battles to regain her tattered authority.

On Monday, new chancellor Jeremy Hunt made a statement junking the PM's mini budget, reversing almost all the tax cuts laid out last month and signalling the death of Truss's economic approach.

Truss sacked her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday following the disastrous financial impact of the measures.

Her spokesperson insisted the prime minister is planning to stay in office, saying she was providing “stability of leadership”.

Crispin Blunt, a former justice minister, told Channel 4’s Andrew Neil Show on Sunday: “I think the game is up and it’s now a question as to how the succession is managed.”

He was followed by Andrew Bridgen on Sunday evening, who told The Telegraph newspaper: “We cannot carry on like this.”

Bridgen, who backed Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest over the summer, said: “Our country, its people and our party deserve better.”

Read more: Jeremy Hunt refuses to say Liz Truss is a 'confident leader'

Conservative MP Jamie Wallis also confirmed he had written to Truss, asking her to stand down. He accused her of "very basic and avoidable errors".

After Hunt's statement, Angela Richardson went public with her call for Truss to be replaced, telling The Telegraph that it would be "better for the party and for the country to have a change in leadership at the top".

In his statement the chancellor confirmed:

• The energy price guarantee – which had been due to cap prices for two years – will end in April after which time the government will look to target help for those most in need

• Plans to cut the basic rate of tax by 1p have been shelved

• The cut in dividend tax, the freeze to alcohol duty and VAT-free shopping for overseas tourists promised by his predecessor will also go

Hunt said he will continue with the decision to reverse the increase in national insurance contributions and a reduction in stamp duty, which are already going through Parliament.

The Treasury said the move – following talks over the weekend between Hunt and Truss – was designed to “ensure sustainable public finances underpin economic growth”.

The move will be seen as an attempt to reassure the financial markets after weeks of turmoil in the wake of former chancellor Kwarteng’s £45 billion mini-budget tax giveaway.

Read more: UK economy now comparable to Greece and Italy thanks to Liz Truss, ex-Bank leader says

Following his surprise appointment on Friday, Hunt warned that taxes would have to go up while spending would rise less quickly than had previously been planned.

A new poll, first published in the Guardian, predicted a landslide for Labour and wipe-out for the Tories.

The poll, by Opinium for the Trades Union Congress, put Labour on 411 seats compared to the Tories on 137.

Watch: Timeline: Liz Truss’s turbulent time as prime minister