Rishi Sunak, who was defeated by Liz Truss in the ballot to be Conservative Party leader, is the hot favourite to replace her following her resignation yesterday.

Truss became the shortest-lived Prime Minister in history, lasting just 44 days. It is hard to understand how Conservative MPs could have got it so wrong. They elected someone patently out of their depth to lead them into the next General Election.

The rules of the ballot to elect a replacement were announced yesterday. Any candidate wishing to stand must garner the support of 100 MPs by this Monday. Voting will take place next week and the result will be announced a week from today.

There is a rumour that Boris Johnson will throw his hat in the ring, but that would be a retrograde step despite the former Prime Minister’s record of wooing voters.

The past 44 days have seemed like something from the pages of a fantasy, as Liz Truss brought in the most diverse Cabinet ever to deal with an issue that didn’t really exist. Her plans to grow the economy out of the current downturn by using a policy of trickle-down economics was doomed to fail.