Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt favoured by MPs to replace prime minister Liz Truss, according to reports

Britain's Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt leaves after attending the weekly Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, in London, on October 11, 2022. (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES / AFP) (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES/AFP via Getty Images)

THE MP for Portsmouth North is among the favourites to replace beleaguered prime minister Liz Truss, who reportedly was confronted by furious Conservative MPs last night.

ConservativeHome editor and former Tory MP, Paul Goodman, has said some Conservative backbenchers are considering pushing for Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt to replace Liz Truss as prime minister.

One idea ‘doing the rounds’ is for Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak to ‘come to some kind of arrangement and essentially take over’, Goodman said.

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Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Goodman said: ‘All sorts of different people are talking about all sorts of different things because the Conservative backbenchers are casting around for a possible replacement for Kwasi Kwarteng, even for a possible replacement for Liz Truss. All sorts of names are being thrown about, Rishi Sunak, even Boris Johnson, Kit Malthouse, Sajid Javid.

Sunak and Mordaunt proved to be popular candidates during the Conservative Party leadership race, with the pair gaining close to two-thirds of the votes from MPs throughout the competition.

Ms Truss faced fellow Conservative MPs during a meeting of backbench group the 1922 Committee, which reportedly saw MPs demand a change in direction from the prime minister.

The maneuvers come as Ms Mordaunt has addressed questions about her seemingly sullen expression during Truss’s responses at prime ministers questions in parliament yesterday.

Responding to a question about her expressing during a session in the House of Commons, the Portsmouth North MP and leader of the House of Commons said: ‘My resting face is that of a bulldog chewing a wasp and people shouldn’t read too much into that.’