Whilst CON MPs don’t decide who leads they can sack the winner
If the YouGov polling of CON members is right then the party is about to choose as leader someone who is not the first choice of Tory MPs.
It will be recalled that in July Liz Truss came third in the first, second, third, and fourth rounds of MP voting. Even in the final MP round to choose the two names to go to the membership she got just 31.8% of the Tory MPs voting for her. This was just enough to get her onto the membership ballot.
What is quite clear is that she has a problem with her lack of support from Tory MPs which might not be an issue provided she is seen to be doing well in the fight against Starmer’s Labour. But it could a problem if she finds herself in rough water.
For one of the oddities of the Tory system is that while the ultimate power to decide the leadership is with the membership the Parliamentary party is able to oust the leader. PBers, no doubt, are fully aware of how a confidence ballot can be triggered if enough MPs send letters to the chairman of the 1922 Committee requesting a confidence vote.
One thing that potentially could cause Truss headaches is that Boris Johnson looks set to remain an MP and no doubt would contest a future contest.