British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after just six weeks in office
2 years ago
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LONDON – Liz Truss became the shortest-serving leader in British political history after she resigned Thursday less than two months into the job.
Her announcement came after her attempt to roll out aggressive tax cuts aimed at spurring economic growth but which dramatically roiled financial markets, led to unprecedented central bank intervention and drove her poll ratings to the lowest ever recorded for a prime minister.
Truss, 47, lasted 44 days in office. Because Britain elects a party, not a specific leader, she will be replaced by another lawmaker from her ruling Conservative Party. The process to replace Truss will take place within the next week.
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Truss will remain as prime minister until then.
“I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability,” Truss said in in a brief statement outside No. 10 Downing Street. “I recognize, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate to which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”
The previous shortest tenure for a British leader was held by Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who served for one year and one day, from 1963 to 1964.
Resignation follows weeks of turmoil
Truss’s resignation comes after several weeks of political chaos. She fired Kwasi Kwarteng, her close ally and finance minister, on Oct. 14, even though he was implementing the pro-growth economic policies she campaigned on.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT LIZ TRUSS: She models herself on Margaret Thatcher
In one survey for polling firm Opinium, Truss had a personal approval rating of -47. Multiple polls have shown that the opposition Labor Party would likely win a landslide victory in a general election.
Under British political rules, the Conservative Party must call an election before January 2025. Kwarteng was replaced by Jeremy Hunt, a former foreign minister who was beaten to the prime minister job by Boris Johnson in 2019. Hunt failed to make a run-off in the Conservative Party process that selected Truss.
Rishi Sunak is the front-runner, according to betting markets and news reports. Sunak, 42, lost out to Truss when she became prime minister on Sept. 6. Sunak was former leader Boris Johnson’s finance minister. Before embarking on a career in politics, Sunak worked for Goldman Sachs and at a hedge fund. He met his wife, the daughter of the co-founder of Infosys, one of India’s largest technology companies, while studying for an MBA at Stanford University. The couple have an estimated wealth of $1 billion, according to The Sunday Times Rich List, an annual gauge of the 1,000 wealthiest people and families resident in the U.K. Sunak served in Johnson’s cabinet as finance minister.
Penny Mordaunt, 49. She was once regarded as the front-runner to succeed Johnson. Mordaunt is currently the leader of the House of Commons. She has been a member of Parliament since 2010 and previously served as trade minister and also had a stint as minister for local government. Mordaunt was the first woman named armed forces minister. She was one of the leaders behind the “Brexit” referendum approved by voters in 2016, which led to Britain’s separation from the EU. Mordaunt is a reservist in the Royal Navy.
Jeremy Hunt. Another longtime cabinet minister with leadership ambitions. Hunt, 55, appears to have already ruled himself out for the prime minister role, but a week has become a long time in British politics lately, so he could find a way to reassert himself. Tim Bale, politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, described Hunt as the “Mitt Romney of British politics” in 2019, a reference to the Utah senator known for his professionalism and lack of political charisma.
Ben Wallace. Wallace, 52, is Britain’s defense secretary and he was won plaudits at home and abroad for his strong support for Ukraine as it fights off a Russian invasion. Wallace supported Truss when she ran for prime minister.
Boris Johnson. Johnson, 58, only left office on Sept. 6, but his name has never been far from the headlines as a possible candidate for a comeback. Johnson is still well like by Conservative Party members even though he resigned following a series of scandals connected to coronavirus lockdowns and because the public tired of his lies over Brexit. Johnson has been silent on whether he’d take the job again.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after six weeks in office
