Truss became prime minister on 6 September after being elected by members of the Conservative Party to replace Boris Johnson as its leader. Her first two weeks included the death of Queen Elizabeth II and were politically muted while the country entered a period of mourning. But on Sept. 23, its finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, made a fatal mistake: Without warning, he unveiled a major shift in the country’s economic strategy, promising to cut taxes on top earners and the biggest corporations — with no plans to pay for it.
