Truss record: what will follow the resignation of the British Prime Minister

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns 44 days after taking office. This made her premiership the most fleeting in British history. Now the ruling Conservative Party must choose a new leader who, according to British political tradition, will lead the government. Experts interviewed by Izvestia believe: two resignations of the prime minister in the last four months – a strong blow to the conservatives. This is reflected in the party’s rating: if the parliamentary elections were held now, the Laborites would confidently win them. On this background Opposition stubbornly demands to organize early votingHowever, they will not be allowed to pass this idea through parliament by the conservative majority.

“The salad lasted longer”

“I acknowledge that, given the situation, I am unable to exercise the powers vested in me by the Conservative Party. So I spoke to His Majesty the King [Карлом III]to notify him that I am resigning,” with such statement British Prime Minister Liz Truss spoke on October 20, standing in front of the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street.

Before she said those words, she recalled that she came to power “at a time of great economic and international instability” – families and businesses are worried about paying bills, the conflict in Ukraine “threatens the stability of the entire continent”, and the country has been held back for too long by low economic growth. According to Liz Truss, she was chosen to “change that.” But she failed – after 44 days she was persuaded to voluntarily leave her post.

Such a term in office made her premiership the most fleeting in the United Kingdom. Until now, the record belonged to the 23rd head of government, George Canning, who headed the government in 1827 and worked in this capacity for 118 days. However, it was not his fault – he set a record, since he died amid deteriorating health.

In the case of Liz Truss, the reason for such an early resignation was her economic policy.. First, she and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwazi Kwarteng presented an ambitious plan to save the British economy – in which they fully reflected Liz Truss’s campaign promise to cut taxes to the detriment of the budget. The British pound and world financial markets reacted sharply negatively to this – their collapse and criticism, including international players (the same IMF), led to Quasi Kwarteng’s dismissal, and Jeremy Hunt, who replaced him, canceled most of the Prime Minister’s initiatives -minister. On October 19, it became known that another minister, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Suella Braverman, left the post at her own request (the official reason was the use of personal e-mail for official purposes, which the politician herself admitted).

Betting when Liz Truss leaves office, the British media began immediately after Quasi Kwarteng left. For example, on October 14, the tabloid Daily Star launched online performance — on a white table were a photo of the prime minister and a head of lettuce. The broadcast was supposed to last 35 days. The question was what would happen first: the lettuce would rot or Liz Truss would retire. Her announcement came on the seventh day, and in the end, the Daily Star salad lasted longer and celebrated the victory..

Liz Truss came to power in early September 2022 after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned in July due to a series of scandals. Her predecessor, just like her, refused to do it until the very end. However, conversations with Tory fellow party members did their job. – He left his post on a voluntary basis. Then, for two months, members of the Conservative Party elected a new leader: first, deputies from the parliamentary faction voted – for several circles they weeded out candidates until two finalists remained; between them – Liz Truss and the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak – were already elected by 170 thousand ordinary Tory citizens.

57% of party members voted for Liz Trusswhile the majority of citizens (regardless of party affiliation and preferences) – about 52% – even before her arrival spokethat she would be a “bad or terrible” prime minister. During the campaign, the sympathies of high-ranking Tories were on her side – in her favor, competitors who were weeded out in the course of the race, and influential conservatives, such as Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace, spoke out in her favor.

— Let’s not forget that the percentage of MPs who chose Liz Truss as Boris Johnson’s successor was quite low.. Many supported Rishi Sunak, – said the interlocutor of Izvestia in Westminster. – Someone will say that Truss’s victory in the final vote exposes a flaw in the system for electing the party leader. Fair point, however. no one expected her to immediately start making statements about fiscal and economic policy without providing information on how she would be financed. It had to be a weighty justification that everyone would believe. Instead, her actions were read as reckless and doctrinaire.

It’s hard to remember, but during the leadership struggle, Rishi Sunak publicly and repeatedly warned Liz Truss that her policies would lead to market turmoil and loss of confidence on the part of international investors, the interlocutor recalled. Conservative voters chose to ignore the warnings, he said.

Cat Larry or Boris Johnson?

Now the conservatives are waiting for the election of a new leader. Given previous experience, the process should take more than a month. However, Liz Truss announced that the name of her successor will be known “within the next week”. She did not specify what mechanisms could accelerate this process.

– The resignation of Liz Truss further exacerbates the degree of political crisis in the UK. The Conservative Party was actually at an impasse, since it is completely incomprehensible who would want to take the post of party leader and head of government in such a situation.Andrey Lebedev, director of analytics at the Russian communications agency KROS, told Izvestia.

With candidates for premiers is really difficult now. Even the cat Larry, the main mouser on Downing Street, who survived the fourth prime minister at the residence, could not stand it and “made” a statement. “The king asked me to become prime minister because this absurdity has been going on for quite some time,” the account says. Twitterconducted on his behalf.

It is not yet known that someone has put forward his candidacy. The media began to circulate information that Boris Johnson is again seeking to take the post of prime minister– about this in Twitter wrote The Times political columnist Stephen Swynford. The survey also supports this scenario. YouGov October 18: Here Boris Johnson topped the list of those whom the Tories would like to see in place of Liz Truss – he has 32%; followed by Rishi Sunak (23%), followed by Ben Wallace (10%).

— Johnson believes that his finest hour has come, – said Natalia Kapitonova, professor of the Department of History and Politics of Europe and America at MGIMO, in an interview with Izvestia. — He supported Truss, knowing that she would fail.. After all, after her failure, he will be able to return on a white horse. Now he is supported by many ordinary members of the Conservative Party – despite all the scandals, he has created the image of a winner: he completed Brexit, won the elections, having received an absolute majority for the party. It is possible that he will be called again as the savior of the Tories. But that would also be terrible, because just a few months ago, the party itself forced Johnson to leave. This will obviously not be good for the image of the Conservative Party – do they have no more candidates?

There is another option – early election. They have been urged relentlessly in recent months by the opposition Labor Party.

“Well, it’s a mess. This is not just a soap opera at the top of the Tory party, this is doing huge damage to our economy and the reputation of our country.. And people pay higher prices, higher mortgage rates,” Labor leader Keir Starmer reacted indignantly to the news about Liz Truss.

According to Natalia Kapitonova, the Conservatives, who still have a majority in parliament, will in no case agree to early elections. Interview POLITICO shows that while 52% of Britons support Labor, only 23% support the Conservatives, and this gap is growing every day. Thus, for the Tories to agree to an early election would mean a voluntary surrender of power to the Labor Party.