Truss’s short tenure was marked by shock over the government’s mini-budget, which rattled British markets, and intra-party discord that led to cabinet walkouts and supporters expressing a lack of confidence in their new leader. Truss said that, “given the situation, I cannot deliver on the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party”. Another Conservative leadership contest will take place within a week, Truss said in a brief statement outside the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street. He will remain until then. It will be the fourth such contest for the party since David Cameron resigned following the referendum that saw British voters back leaving the European Union.
“A disaster and a shame”
The development came just a day after Truss expressed her desire to stay in her post after apologizing for a turbulent start to her leadership, saying she was a “fighter not a quitter”. Kwasi Kwarteng, the government’s finance minister, resigned last week after his so-called mini-budget announcement on September 23 upset markets over the level of government borrowing at a time of economic uncertainty. He also angered opposition parties over tax breaks for the wealthiest. Jeremy Hunt replaced Kwarteng and on Monday pledged to scrap most of that mini-budget, which initially had Truss’s full support. Home Secretary Suella Braverman quit the cabinet on Wednesday after breaking the rules, but in her resignation letter she expressed “concerns about the direction of this government”. “The business of government is based on people accepting responsibility for their mistakes,” Braverman wrote. An attempt by Trus supporters to shore up her position ahead of a vote on fracking on Wednesday was seen by some MPs as heavy-handed and exacerbated the government’s crisis, some MPs said. Conservative lawmaker Charles Walker told the BBC it was “a waste and a disgrace”. “I hope all those people who put Liz Truss on [in office]I hope it was worth it,” he told the BBC. “I hope it was worth sitting around the cabinet table because the damage they have done to our party is extraordinary.”
Leadership Roulette
Since Cameron’s announcement, Britain has seen three prime ministers installed before the wider public had a chance to weigh in: Truss, Johnson and Theresa May. May would eventually win a closer-than-expected election in 2017 over Jeremy Corbyn, but paid the price of protracted Brexit withdrawal negotiations with the EU. The hard-line Johnson helped deliver Brexit and won a landslide mandate in an election upset in late 2019 that saw Corbyn ousted as Labor leader. But Johnson’s disorganized governing style and allegations of breaking pandemic rules eroded his internal support within the party until he was forced to resign earlier this year. Front burner from October 11: Front Burner30:52Britain: Difficult month or road to disaster? In her first month as leader of the ruling Conservatives, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has plunged the British economy into chaos. A major tax cut plan for top earners and companies – intended to stimulate the economy as energy costs soar – spooked financial markets so deeply it sent interest rates skyrocketing, drove the pound into the ground and required emergency intervention from the Bank of England. Truss has reversed course and the economy is back from the brink, but Britain’s fragile post-Brexit situation begs the question: Is the UK OK? Today on Front Burner, Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London and author of the forthcoming book The Conservative Party after Brexit, gives an overview of the recent turmoil in Britain and the turning points leading up to this moment. Truss won the summer leadership race to succeed him over runner-up Rishi Sunak, although a majority of party MPs and dignitaries supported Sunak, a one-time Treasury secretary under Johnson. Grassroots party members favored Truss to a significant degree. Opposition Leader Keir Starmer of the Labor Party called for Truss’ resignation this week and called for a snap election so the British public can help decide the way forward as the country faces a range of issues, including the highest inflation since the beginning of 1980s.
