Liz Truss: General election needed, says Mark Drakeford

The "complete and utter failure" of Liz Truss's government must prompt a general election, Wales' first minister has said.

Speaking in Downing Street, Ms Truss resigned, saying she could not deliver the mandate she was elected on.

Mark Drakeford said a "complete lack of leadership is preventing decisions and actions from being taken to deal with the many challenges we are facing".

Ms Truss said there would be a Tory leadership election within a week.

She will remain prime minister until her successor is chosen, following a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee.

Junior Wales Office minister and Monmouth MP David TC Davies urged colleagues to get behind a single candidate.

Although some expressed concern about how Liz Truss was treated, almost everyone BBC Wales spoke to in Wrexham wanted a general election.

The seat was won in 2019 by Boris Johnson's Conservatives for the first time since the 1930s.

Conservative voter Helen Valyandis, a business owner from Wrexham, said next time it would be "Labour all the way".

She said she had "felt very sorry" for Ms Truss, but her position was "untenable".

She called for a general election: "I have voted Conservative all my life and I seriously doubt I'll be doing it again. It's been very disappointing."

"I'm really glad she's gone," said Labour voter Angharad Futcher, 31, a hospital worker from Wrexham. "It's been a mess."

One man, who did not want to be named, felt that Ms Truss had not been given a fair crack of the whip.

But Vic Grout, 59, of the Flatulent Frog café at Ty Pawb in the town, added: "We've had enough of Tory party members choosing prime ministers for us, thank you very much. It's time the public decide."

There was not much sympathy for Ms Truss in Ruthin, in the Conservative-held Clwyd West constituency.

Bernadette O'Malley, 38, owner of Ruthin Artisan Markets, said: "I think it's about time we had a general election and put it back to the people.

"They've had their go. They're playing musical chairs. It's almost like an airbnb now in Downing Street."

Lifelong Tory voter Tony Vine, 77, is not impressed - so much so, he might not vote at all next time around.

"I think Liz Truss was 'any port in a storm' at the time and inherited a poisoned chalice.

"As a consequence the whole party is in disarray. I fear the only way forward may be a general election."

Jenny Turner, 40, teaches in a private school and would be concerned about Labour's policy towards private education.

She adds: "I don't particularly know if I think that another party would be any better. I kind of just think let's get on with the job at hand, let's just get somebody else in.

"However who comes in, are we going to have them for two weeks as well?"

Mr Drakeford said the Conservative Party "has collapsed as a source of political authority and nobody will be able to lead them".

In a BBC Wales interview, Mark Drakeford urged Conservatives to back his call for a general election.

He argued it would be the "only way we will have stability".

"They're going to be difficult years for whoever is in government. That government needs a mandate, an instruction from the people as to way in which they would want to see those responsibilities discharged," he said.

Plaid Cymru also called for an election, saying the "chaotic circus" was "proof once and for all that Westminster will never work for Wales".

In a joint statement, the party's leader Adam Price and Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts said: "Another prime minister gone but there is still no recognition that it's not the individuals in Downing Street that's the problem, but the fundamental contradictions within the Tory party as a whole.

"We urgently need a general election so that the people of Wales can reject this Westminster chaos at the ballot box."

Former Conservative Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said his party needed a "swift and clean leadership election to provide the country with stable government".

He said Rishi Sunak would "make a strong candidate", despite losing the last leadership contest to Ms Truss as "his arguments about the economy have been vindicated entirely".

The Preseli Pembrokeshire MP added: "The overwhelming consensus of Conservative MPs after the chaos of last night was that there needs to be a change at the very top."

On Thursday Simon Hart, who served as Welsh secretary under Boris Johnson, declared for Mr Sunak, saying it was time for "someone serious, tested and competent".

Meanwhile David TC Davies called for the party to "forget the debates around the left and the right of the party - Leavers and Remainers - and back one person for the job. I want Tory peace and unity."

James Davies, MP for Vale of Clwyd, called for Penny Mordaunt to stand.

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said Ms Truss has "done the right thing" and called on the next prime minister to provide "leadership, confidence and hope".

He said: "The new prime minister must grip this situation quickly, and provide leadership, confidence and hope to people across our nation."

Ynys Môn Tory MP Virginia Crosbie said the last few days had "seen the authority of the prime minister ebb away" and Ms Truss had been "brave to acknowledge she could not continue".

"This has been a bruising and difficult time for the party. It now needs to stop the fighting and unite again under a new leader."

Ms Truss announced her departure after after just 45 days in the job and will become the shortest serving prime minister in British history when she stands down.

Jeremy Hunt - who was appointed chancellor last week - has said he will not stand in the leadership contest to replace her.