Victory by K.-O. for lettuce from Daily Star. The vegetable floored Liz Truss in the longevity fight organized by the tabloid since the Prime Minister resigned on Thursday. The leader of the Conservative Party will only remain in office for forty-five days, thus becoming the head of government with the shortest mandate in the history of the country. Autopsy of a fiasco.
What happened today?
Liz Truss spoke outside 10 Downing Street around 1.30pm local time. She quickly announced an outcome that seemed increasingly inevitable: “I have spoken to the King to inform him that I am resigning. The leader of the Conservative Party added: “I took office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses worried about how to pay their bills. We have obtained results on energy bills (…). However, I recognize that given the situation, I cannot fulfill the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. »
How did we get here ?
At the end of September, the Minister of Finance Kwasi Kwarteng presented a plan to relaunch growth, based on tax cuts of tens of billions of pounds financed by debt. Result: a storm on the financial markets, a plummeting pound and an intervention by the Bank of England to save the day and ensure the country’s financial stability.
Forced to change her tune, Liz Truss had to replace her minister, to whom she was very close, with Jeremy Hunt, “much more centrist economically” according to Agnès Alexandre-Collier, professor of British civilization and politics at the university. of Burgundy, interviewed by 20 minutes. Hunt then abandoned almost all of the original plan, announcing future cuts in state spending and tax hikes. placing de facto Liz Truss in an awkward position.
“It’s quite untenable, said the academic a few days ago. It is played between the humiliation of having to give up everything and clinging to a position for which Liz Truss no longer has any relevance. If the government leads a policy opposite to what it has advocated, what is the point of seeing it still in exercise? To continue to function as a simple puppet at the head of the government would mean giving up everything in which she believes. »
Who to succeed him?
“An election for the leadership of the party will be organized next week in order to guarantee the economic stability of our country. I will remain prime minister until my successor is chosen,” Liz Truss announced this afternoon. “By Friday, October 28,” said majority leader Graham Brady. Already the second ballot of the year among the Tories since the deputies of the party had to vote this summer to designate the successor to Boris Johnson.
Dwayne Johnson would see himself taking over, but the candidates should be a little less bankable. Several names who were on the starting line in July are expected to return to try their luck, including Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Jeremy Hunt. According to Agnès Alexandre-Collier, Sunak’s profile “could stick” to try to reconcile the different currents of the party. The former Chancellor of the Exchequer had also been the most serious opponent of Liz Truss during the election of the summer.
One thing is certain: the Conservative Party will have a fifth Prime Minister in less than seven years, after David Cameron (2010-2016), Theresa May (2016-2019), Boris Johnson (2019-2022) and therefore Liz Truss (2022). ). The waltz continues, and the opposition is already rubbing its hands. A YouGov study published at the end of September for the Times indeed gave Labor a 33-point lead in voting intentions. Legislative elections are to be held by the end of 2024.