After just a few weeks in office, British Prime Minister Liz Truss failed. The 47-year-old announced her resignation on Thursday after massive criticism from her own ranks. This means that the ruling Conservative Party has to elect another head of government in record time. The successor should be determined within a week, said the outgoing Prime Minister in London’s Downing Street.
Truss admitted that she could no longer implement her vision of radical economic growth, for which her party had elected her. “I spoke to the king to let him know that I am stepping down as leader of the Conservative Party,” Truss said. The 47-year-old will remain in office until the change. Truss is on course to become Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister.
Truss had come under massive pressure after triggering financial chaos with planned tax breaks and later having to turn around. Only last Friday, Truss fired her Treasury Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, and replaced her with former Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt. On Monday, Hunt reversed almost all elements of its tax policy, which was only announced at the end of September. Among other things, he announced that the energy price cap, which was actually intended for two years, would be limited to six months.
New Prime Minister to be on 31.10. come
As early as October 31 – in less than two weeks – a new head of government should be in office. It wasn’t even two hours before the scandal-plagued ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson started talking about it. The “Times” wrote that the politician, who only left office in the summer, assumes that running again is in the “national interest”. Johnson, who was forced to resign in early July after the “Partygate” scandal and many other scandals, still has a loyal support base. In polls among party members, he recently did well again.
In addition to Johnson, ex-Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak, as well as Minister Penny Mordaunt, who is responsible for parliamentary affairs, and Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace are in talks. Sunak was defeated by Truss in the party’s internal vote in the summer and is considered controversial in the group. Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who recently took office, reportedly declined to run. Suella Braverman, who was dismissed as interior secretary on Wednesday, is considered a possible right-wing candidate.
“We are very aware of the need, in the interests of the national interest, to regulate this very quickly and clearly,” said the head of the responsible parliamentary group committee, Graham Brady. In the summer, finding a successor for Boris Johnson had dragged on for weeks. To run, candidates need the backing of at least 100 MPs. After that, votes should first take place in the parliamentary group and then in the party base.
Labor leader Keir Starmer called for an immediate new election. “We are ready to form a government,” he told Sky News. Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon also called for a general election. “A new election is now a democratic imperative,” wrote the leader of the Scottish National Party SNP on Twitter.
Tumultuous scenes in Parliament
On Wednesday, the departure of Secretary of the Interior Braverman accelerated the disintegration of the government. There were also tumultuous scenes in Parliament. In some cases, conservative MPs are said to have been intimidated and pressured into voting for the government. Many observers described the scenes as unprecedented. Labor MP Chris Bryant told the BBC Conservative colleagues cried on his shoulder.
EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola sees Truss’s resignation as a lesson from which other Europeans can also learn. Rhetoric can bring down a government, said the Maltese on the sidelines of an EU summit. French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, tensions over energy and even bigger crises, it was important that Britain quickly regained political stability. US President Joe Biden emphasized the close connection between the two countries.
