Peter Walker
Political correspondent
Practices can be sorted out, but Truss will face his toughest task yet, carving out a role in the Tory backbench as former PM
While official spokeswoman Liz Truss insisted she was still "working from Downing Street" on Monday, in reality she had only one real task left of what would become her 50 days as prime minister: departing from that role.
In a chronology now familiar to observers of British politics, after chairing a farewell cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, the widely used No 10 podium will be brought out for Truss to make a final and brief statement, at around 10:15 am.
Then came a trip to Buckingham Palace for the ceremonial formalities of an audience with the King, where he would step down as prime minister. He will soon be followed by Rishi Sunak, who will then be escorted to Downing Street. His words outside were expected at around 11.35 am.
As Sunak disappears inside, chased by the clique of photographers' cameras, the new prime minister will begin a flurry of activity, with civil servant staff guiding a newly appointed political team through what's known as "onboarding", which involves everything from logging-in computers to bypassing security. .
But what about Trus? He will leave the palace into the news vacuum as a humble backbench MP, his first time in this role in a decade.
The Commons is sitting, and Truss will have a lot to do, so it's likely his official car will take him from palace to parliament. And he will still have transportation. While fired cabinet ministers soon lose the chauffeur-driven vehicles that came with the job, the former prime minister is entitled to a government car forever, along with security.
One of the most notable difficulties that comes with being ousted as prime minister is the fact that you lose not only your job, but also two houses – one of the flats above Downing Street and the Cheques retreat.
For some former PMs, this can be tricky. Boris Johnson's latest list of financial interests shows he received £3,500 a month's worth of accommodation from Anthony Carole Bamford of excavation company JCB, as he and his wife, Carrie, were between houses in south London.
Truss is fine on this front. His home in Greenwich, southeast London – famously in the Kwasi corner of Kwarteng, the chancellor he sacked – is the de facto family home rather than the one in the Norfolk constituency, as his daughter attends school in the capital.
Truss's maid refuses to say what she might do next, and it's likely she doesn't know herself. 47 years old and a former accountant, she can definitely make a living outside of politics, even if not at the level of Johnson or even Theresa May,
who combines being a backbencher earning £100,000-plus while giving speeches to US companies.
It seems likely Truss will remain in parliament. There she will face what will probably be her most difficult task yet: carving out the role of a grandee, a former resident of No 10, but one who has only been there for seven weeks, almost all of them defined by chaos and disaster. This is an unprecedented challenge, for a prime minister like never before.
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