It won’t last until Christmas. British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation on Thursday, 24 hours after assuring that she would not do anything. But the political chaos had become such that she had no other choice. She was elected in early September to replace Boris Johnson, by the only members of the Conservative Party, with 81,326 votes against 60,399 for his opponent Rishi Sunak. Here is a summary of the political crisis that has consumed the country since he came to power 44 days ago.
September 6
Liz Truss officially becomes Prime Minister after meeting Queen Elizabeth II who asks her to form a new government.
September 8
Faced with soaring energy costs, Liz Truss announces in Parliament a price freeze for individuals and businesses. His announcement is totally eclipsed by the death of Elizabeth II, political life stops for ten days of national mourning.
September 23
Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng announces a “mini-budget” to boost growth, based on tax cuts of tens of billions of pounds financed by debt. The financial markets are panicking. On the 26th, when the markets reopened, the pound plunged to a historic low.
September 28
Faced with the financial panic, the Bank of England announced that it would intervene urgently on the bond market in the face of a “significant risk to the financial stability of the United Kingdom”.
September 29
The polling institute YouGov announces a lead of 33 points for the Labor opposition, unheard of since the end of the 1990s, two years before the legislative elections.
October 3
During the congress of the conservative party, marked by dissension and tensions, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are forced to a first volte-face: they renounce to abolish the highest tax bracket.
October 5
“I got it, I listened,” Liz Truss told the party convention. “Growth, growth, growth”, she repeats without reassuring the skeptics of her party or the nervous markets.
October 12
Liz Truss ruled out in front of MPs any reduction in public spending while promising to maintain tax cuts, adding to doubts about her policy.
October 13
Tories refer to a list of names circulating to replace her in Downing Street. From Washington, where he attends the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Kwasi Kwarteng says he is sure that they will both still be in office in a month.
October 14
Kwasi Kwarteng, who returned to London urgently, was sacked and replaced by Jeremy Hunt, a former candidate in the race for Downing Street. Liz Truss calls a press conference where she mechanically repeats that she wants to accomplish her mission, takes four questions and turns on her heels after eight minutes.
It announces a new reversal, renouncing to maintain at 19% the corporation tax which will increase to 25% as planned by the previous government.
October 17
Jeremey Hunt, fourth Minister of Finance since the beginning of the year, announces the cancellation of the economic program of Liz Truss in its quasi totality. She is represented in Parliament to answer questions from the opposition on this policy. “No, she’s not hiding under a desk,” said the minister representing her, Penny Mordaunt, as some MPs shouted “resign”.
Liz Truss acknowledges mistakes in a late-night BBC interview and says she’s “sorry” but rules out quitting, citing “the national interest”.
October 19
“I’m a fighter, I’m not quitting,” said Liz Truss booed during the weekly question session in Parliament. Interior Minister Suella Braverman resigns. She explains that she sent an official document on migration policy from her private email box to a colleague in Parliament. “I made a mistake. I accept it, I resign” she wrote in her departure letter, a clear message against Liz Truss who remains in her post.
In the evening, chaos in Parliament over a poorly explained vote on hydraulic fracturing which the government wanted to use as a test of loyalty.
October 20
In a very brief announcement in front of Downing Street, Liz Truss announces that she is resigning, unable to “carry out the term” for which she was elected.