Liz Truss resigned as Britain's Prime Minister after 45 days in power
New Delhi/London:
Liz Truss, the Prime Minister of the UK, resigned today after 45 days in power, the shortest term for a British PM. Her economic programme sent shockwaves through the markets and divided her Conservative Party. She was appointed over Rishi Sunak.
Here's your 10-point cheatsheet to this big story:
- "Given the situation, I cannot carry out the mandate for which I was elected...I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen," Ms Truss told reporters today.
- The pound rose 0.36 per cent today. A "mini-budget" last month had proposed vast, unfunded tax cuts, triggering an intervention from the Bank of England as borrowing costs surged, the pound tumbled and mortgage rates jumped.
- Ms Truss announced her resignation less than 24 hours after she said, "I am a fighter and not a quitter", in response to MPs who criticised her. "I am someone who is prepared to front up. I'm prepared to take the tough decisions," she said yesterday.
- Ms Truss' chaotic premiership was mortally wounded despite having barely begun. Discounting 10 days of mourning for the late Queen Elizabeth II, Ms Truss had only a week before her political programme imploded, leading to the sacking of her Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng.
- Mr Kwarteng, who was seen as like-minded with Ms Truss, had announced a "mini-budget" which detailed the price of an energy scheme worth $67 billion over the next six months. But he did not have measures to raise funds.
- Instead, the then Finance Minister announced massive new borrowings to pay for sweeping tax cuts - including for top-earners - along with scrapping a cap on bankers' bonuses.
- The announcement drew immediate political fire for being unfair, and the pound fell towards parity against the dollar. Mr Kwarteng and Mr Truss were then forced into a humiliating U-turn, scrapping the planned cut in the top rate of income tax.
- By this morning, more than a dozen Conservative MPs had publicly urged Ms Truss to resign, after her tax-cutting plans caused a market meltdown during an already severe cost-of-living crisis.
- Labour leader Keir Starmer, whose opposition party has surged in opinion polls on the back of Ms Truss's short, crisis-plagued tenure, demanded a general election "now".
- Ms Truss beat former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak in the leadership race after Boris Johnson announced his resignation in July -- but Mr Johnson supporters have vowed to block a coronation for Mr Sunak now.
With inputs from AFP
