British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced Thursday that she would resign after just six weeks in office, following a disastrous and rapidly-reversed economic plan that sent the pound plunging and her Conservative government into chaos.
Having been formally appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 6, she is now by far the shortest-serving prime minister in British history and will be remembered as one of the most calamitous.
The previous holder of this record, George Canning, lasted 119 days in the early 19th century; Truss could only manage 44.
On Wednesday, Truss assured Parliament during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session that she was a “fighter, not a quitter.”
But leading a ruling party is only possible with respect and credibility. Truss increasingly had little of either, and has now quit just a day later.
The decision follows a night of remarkable scenes in Parliament, with lawmakers denouncing strongarm tactics employed by Truss’ team that allegedly brought some colleagues to tears, and prompted growing demands for her to go from within her own party.
Attention now turns to who might take her place, but with no clear successor waiting in the wings, there could be more uncertain days ahead.
Truss, 47, promised a radical shift in Britain’s economic fortunes, turning it into a low-tax, high-growth country that would unleash its post-Brexit potential.
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