After Truss, it’s the club v the mob – the Tories’ last chance before Britain demands an election | Simon Jenkins

The Conservatives know the people's verdict would be devastating. But they can't be allowed to carry on in a state of perpetual chaos

Summer 2022 must mark a low moment in the history of British politics.

Whatever emerges in the next week, the mother of parliaments has been reduced to a bad joke, its constitution a laughing stock. Four prime ministers have been ejected from office in six years, none by the vote of a democratic electorate. A fifth is about to be chosen, again without an election.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist