Why Did Liz Truss Resign? In 2022, Liz Truss became the shortest-serving Prime Minister in British history, stepping down after only 44 days in office. It was a tumultuous time, full of political scandals and economic turmoil. So, what led to Truss’ resignation?
We will cover the events that unfolded during her brief tenure and examine the factors that ultimately led to her decision to step down.
Why Did Liz Truss Resign?
Liz Truss resigned from her position as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on October 20, 2022, after only 44 days in office. She was the British Prime Minister with the shortest tenure in history.
Truss’ resignation was influenced by a number of issues:
1. Economic Turmoil
The economic policies of Truss’s government, particularly the “mini-budget” released in September 2022, created substantial market instability.
The unfunded tax cuts in the mini-budget caused the pound sterling to plummet and government borrowing costs to soar. This was interpreted as evidence that the government’s economic policy was untrustworthy.
2. Loss of Confidence
Truss has lost the trust of her own Conservative Party. Many Conservative MPs were dissatisfied with her economic policies and thought she was a weak leader.
This was made obvious in a vote of confidence on October 12, 2022, in which Truss received only 56.4% of the vote.
3. U-Turns
In a short time, Truss was forced to reverse several of her important ideas. This made her appear indecisive and inept.
For example, she was compelled to abandon promises to cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans while raising corporate taxes.
Truss was viewed as an authoritarian boss who ignored counsel. This made it difficult for her to reach an agreement and complete tasks.
Why Was Truss So Unpopular?
As to a YouGov poll, Truss’s net favorability at the end of her term was minus seventy percent. Should that number have kept falling, she would have passed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is rated minus 84 percent by the British population in terms of net favorability.
On September 6, Truss was sworn in as prime minister by the Conservative Party members who had chosen him to succeed Boris Johnson.
The nation went into grief during her first two weeks in office, which coincided with Queen Elizabeth II’s passing and were marked by a legislative standstill. However, on September 23, Kwasi Kwarteng, her finance minister, made a disastrous error.
He abruptly announced a dramatic change in the nation’s economic policy, promising to cut taxes on the wealthiest individuals and largest businesses without providing any ideas for how he would finance the change.
How Many Officials Were Fired or Resigned Under Truss?
Three. She lost half of her most senior ministers in a single week.
Kwarteng, the architect of Truss’s vision for economic expansion and a longstanding political ally, was the first to go. Truss dismissed him on Friday and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt, the UK’s fourth finance minister in less than a month.
With markets roiled in the aftermath of Kwarteng’s dismal “mini-budget,” the decision came as no surprise to a prime minister looking for methods to stem the bleeding of her political authority.
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, resigned on Wednesday. This departure came as a surprise: ostensibly, it was due to a technical violation of the ministerial code when Braverman sent confidential papers from her personal email.
If losing two ministers in Britain’s four Great Offices of State in less than a week wasn’t enough drama, British media reported Wednesday that Truss’s top staffer, Jason Stein, had been suspended after insulting fellow Conservative MPs anonymously to reporters.
Final Words
Liz Truss’ departure was a momentous moment in British politics, and many people are left wondering what will happen next. But one thing is certain: Truss’ presidency was distinguished by a sequence of unforced errors and blunders.
It’s a cautionary tale about the perils of ineffective leadership and the significance of strong economic strategy. As we move forward, let us hope that lessons have been learned and that better judgments will be made.
