Liz Truss is now the shortest-serving prime minister in British history

Last updated Oct 20, 2022

LONDON: Liz Truss, the British Prime Minister, resigned on Thursday after just six weeks in office, following a catastrophic and quickly revised economic plan that drove the pound plunging and her administration into chaos.

Truss was formally chosen by Queen Elizabeth II on September 6, and she will be remembered as one of the most calamitous prime ministers in British history.

The previous holder of this record, George Canning, lasted 119 days in the early nineteenth century; Truss resigned after 44 days.
A leadership election to choose the future leader of the ruling Conservative Party, who will become prime minister by default, is now ongoing and will end in the next week. The opposition Labour Party has demanded a snap election.

#WATCH | Liz Truss resigns as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

I am resigning as the leader of the Conservative party. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen: Liz Truss

(Source: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/nR2t0yOP30
— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2022

During the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session on Wednesday, Truss informed Parliament that she was a “fighter, not a quitter.”

However, leading a ruling party requires respect and credibility. Truss was running out of both and resigned the next day.

In a brief, unrepentant statement outside No. 10 Downing St. on Thursday, she said, “I understand that, given the circumstances, I am unable to deliver the mandate for which I was chosen by the Conservative Party.”

“As a result, I have informed His Majesty the King that I am retiring as Conservative Party leader.”

“I will stay Prime Minister until a replacement is chosen,” she said at the end of her remarks.

The focus has already shifted to what comes next.

Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson’s former finance minister who criticised her economic policies, is the betting favourite to succeed her. In the battle to succeed the scandal-plagued Johnson, he finished second behind Truss.

The party also supports experienced figure Penny Mordaunt, who filled in for Truss in Parliament earlier this week and assured lawmakers that the prime minister was not hiding under a desk.There is even talk of Johnson staging a spectacular comeback, barely months after quitting under pressure from his own party and the public.

But with no clear successor waiting in the wings, there could be more uncertain days ahead.