Shaken UK Conservatives seek unity after Truss' rocky start

LONDON (AP) — U.K. government ministers implored Conservative colleagues to rally behind Prime Minister Liz Truss after a disastrous start to her premiership that has left the governing party demoralized and divided.

Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi told the BBC that with two years or less until the next general election, the party should “get behind Liz because division will cause delay, delay is our enemy, and ultimately (means) defeat."

House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, one of the Conservatives who ran against Truss this summer to replace Boris Johnson as the party's leader and the U.K.'s prime minister, said in an article for the Sunday Telegraph that “division will only play into the hands of those who would take our country in the wrong direction.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman wrote in a piece the Sun newspaper published Sunday that “the choice for my colleagues and for us is as party is simple: Back Liz or get (Labour Party leader) Keir Starmer, hand-in-hand with (Scottish National Party leader) Nicola Sturgeon.”