Who would be a Prime Minister after all that Liz Truss has been through? - Bill Carmichael

Replying to a question about the absence of Liz Truss from an urgent debate in the Commons, Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House, got to her feet and with an admirably straight face said: “The Prime Minister is not under a desk.”

If you suggested that line in the writers’ room of a new satirical TV comedy, it would be rejected as outlandish and ridiculous. But outlandish and ridiculous is our new reality, and sadly things may get worse before they get better.

I think it was around about then that it began to dawn on me that the Prime Minister could not possibly survive much more of this, and yesterday afternoon she finally put us all out of our misery when she announced her resignation.

The circumstances were the sacking of her Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwarsi Kwarteng, a week ago after his mini budget so spooked the market that borrowing costs on UK government debt began to spiral out of control, putting the entire pension sector at risk of collapse.

Ms Truss’s new Chancellor, the former Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, then proceeded to shred most of her economic policy, including income and corporation tax cuts.

His actions seem to have calmed the markets somewhat, at least for now, giving the government a slight breather from the ongoing havoc.

But instead of a tax-cutting bonanza, we are now facing a further round of austerity with public spending cuts to plug a big hole in the national budget.

Also, inflation has reached a 40-year high, and the market turmoil has led to significant increases in mortgage costs for millions of Britons. Considering all this perhaps it would be understandable if Ms Truss climbed under her desk at Number 10 and refused to come out.

But now she has gone. There was a brief moment of optimism on Wednesday, when she put on a brave performance at Prime Minister’s Question Time, only her third time facing this daunting bear pit, vowing “I am a fighter and not a quitter.” She certainly does not lack pluck.

But any glimmer of hope she could survive was quickly wiped out by the resignation of her Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, over policy differences, followed by chaotic scenes during a Commons debate on fracking that the government said was a Vote of Confidence. Tory MPs were incandescent at this mess.

Their mood was not helped by opinion polls showing a massive lead for Labour and realising that the government is not only facing defeat, but the entire Conservative Party could be wiped out. In the end her departure – just 45 days into the job – had a feeling of inevitability about it. She now has the unenviable record of being the shortest serving Prime Minister in British history.

What happens now is the big question. It looks like the Conservatives will try to choose a new Prime Minister in the next week. Selecting another Prime Minister, without getting a mandate from voters, will seem an outrage to many.

But let us not forget that the Conservatives still have a commanding majority in the House of Commons – but only if they can unite behind one leader.

If Conservative MPs have any sense – and currently that is a big if – they need to unite and hang onto power for the next two years. A week is a long time in politics, and two years is an absolute age. Who knows what the political landscape will look like in 2024?

One thing is certain if they call a General Election now they face a landslide defeat on a scale that would threaten the very future of the party.

Incidentally, and call me an old softy if you wish, but I couldn’t help feeling a tinge of sympathy for Ms Truss as she became the latest Prime Minister to deliver a resignation statement on the steps of Number Ten. Yes, she is the author of her own troubles, but what she must have gone through over the last few weeks must be absolutely horrible.

It reminded me of Baroness Thatcher weeping as she left Downing Street for the last time, or Gordon Brown trying desperately to cling onto power in 2010, or David Cameron and Theresa May choking back the tears as they resigned.

They are all talented, decent people who could have good careers and earn a lot more money outside the backstabbing world of politics.

Why on earth put yourself through this? Perhaps we’ll never really know.