Liz Truss forced out as Britain’s prime minister after just 6 weeks

Name: UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns, ending the shortest leadership term in modern British history
Uploaded: 2022-10-20T12:44:40.000Z
Duration: 1 min 57 s
Description: UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns, ending the shortest leadership term in modern British history

Conservative leader is the shortest serving prime minister in modern British history as her party turns against her after missteps that unnerved financial markets

Her replacement is not yet decided; her competitor for PM, Rishi Sunak, is one possibility and recently deposed Boris Johnson is expected to stand again

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Liz Truss is the shortest serving prime minister in modern British history. Photo: Reuters

Chad Brayin London

Published: 8:44pm, 20 Oct 2022Updated: 8:17am, 21 Oct 2022

Liz Truss was forced to resign as Britain’s prime minister on Thursday as Tory members of parliament lost confidence in her leadership days after her government was forced into an embarrassing U-turn on its plan to tackle a cost-of-living crisis through massive borrowing, while slashing taxes.

Truss’ fate was sealed following the sacking of several ministers in recent days, a chaotic night in parliament on Wednesday and more than a dozen Tory MPs calling for new leadership the next morning.

Questions about how the Truss government would pay for its plan to spend £60 billion (US$67 billion) to help the British public navigate rising energy prices that threaten to send millions into poverty, while pushing through £45 billion in tax cuts unnerved financial markets.

The uncertainty sent the British pound to its lowest level against the dollar in 50 years in late September and has pushed mortgage rates and bond yields sharply higher.

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UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns, ending the shortest leadership term in modern British history

Despite rolling back much of her tax-cutting plans this week, she further lost confidence of Conservative MPs in recent days following the sacking of Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng and the Home Secretary Suella Braverman – two of the most senior roles in government.

Braverman questioned the “direction of this government” in a blistering resignation letter on Wednesday.