Truss resigns: what next?
Liz Truss has resigned as PM just two days after declaring that she would lead the Conservatives into the General Election in 2024. The UK will have a new PM within the week.
Truss was facing revolts from the Conservatives on all fronts, with many MPs telling her to quit in the aftermath of the mini-Budget which saw her key proposals under Kwasi Kwarteng reduce the amount of tax paid by those in the highest earning brackets. After a public uproar, Truss sacked Kwarteng and Jeremy Hunt was selected as Chancellor. Most of the original budget has been reversed, and the proposals were to be released on October 31. However, the damage was done to the economy, with the Bank of England deciding to raise interest rates to cope with the increasing inflation (which at the time of writing stands at 10.1%).
A new PM will be selected within a week, so the Conservatives will be scrambling to find a replacement or face yet another leadership election. Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out as a potential replacement. Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned yesterday over a government document sent from her personal email, her letter citing that Truss' leadership needed to accept responsibility for the mistakes they had made. Braverman ran for PM in the leadership contest earlier this year, so her resignation could be seen as a strategic move.
Liz Truss will go down in history as the shortest serving PM, lasting 44 days, but her premiership was far from eventful. In her tenure, the Queen died, the markets crashed at their lowest point in 40 years and she famously U-turned on policies that she strongly advocated for, with a BBC interview airing as evidence of the government's 'flip flop' attitude.
The front-runners for PM so far seem to be:
- Rishi Sunak, who came second in the leadership contest
- Penny Mordaunt, who came third in the leadership contest
- Ben Wallace, Defence Secretary
- Suella Braverman, former Attorney General and former Home Secretary
- Brandon Lewis, Justice Secretary and former Chairman of the 1922 Committee
It has been a tumultuous time for UK politics. As ever, this is only the beginning.
*Header photo obtained from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-63261560 all rights reserved 
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