Explainer | 3 British prime ministers in 7 weeks – how did that happen?
- Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s next prime minister, replacing Liz Truss, who only lasted a chaotic 44 days before she resigned
- Truss had taken over from Boris Johnson, who led his party to a landslide victory in 2019, but was driven out of office after a series of scandals
_0.jpg?itok=Nf29cQLg)
02:14
Rishi Sunak set to be UK’s next prime minister
His victory in the race to replace Liz Truss also comes little more than a month since he lost out to her in the contest to replace Johnson.
Here is a timeline of the recent political crises which engulfed both prime minister’s leadership and what ultimately led to their downfall.
November 30, 2021
The first story of what would become “partygate” broke, with reports that Downing Street staff had held three gatherings almost a year earlier, when London was under lockdown restrictions.
December 6
A video of then-Downing Street press secretary Allegra Stratton joking about parties during a press conference rehearsal leaked. She resigned a day later.
December 9 brought a £17,800 (US$20,000) fine from the Electoral Commission, which found the Conservatives had improperly declared donations from Lord Brownlow towards the refurbishment of Johnson’s Downing Street flat.
The Electoral Commission investigation uncovered WhatsApp messages that raised further questions about what the Prime Minister knew about the source of the donations.
December 14
Photographs surfaced of Johnson at a Christmas quiz and sitting in the garden of Number 10 while staff apparently drank wine and chatted.