shortest term ever

Subjected to strong pressure from her party, Liz Truss resigned on October 20 as head of the Tories: she will remain Prime Minister for a few more days, that is to say until the arrival of her successor. The shortest tenure of a British Prime Minister’s post, which lasted only a month and a half, ends in the most inglorious way.

It was the Prime Minister himself who announced his resignation in a laconic statement in front of 10 Downing Street, the residence of the head of the London government. Liz Truss announced, at the same time as her resignation, that the vote for her succession will take place “by next week”. His government, Truss said, “delivered on energy bills”, as well as “outlining a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would exploit Brexit freedoms”.

Photo Ansa/Epa Andy Rain

But “I recognize that, given the situation, I cannot complete the term for which I was elected by the Conservative Party”. With those words, British Prime Minister Liz Truss then resigned, saying she had taken office “at a time of great economic and international instability”. Truss served as British Prime Minister for just 45 days, the shortest term in government ever in the UK. The second shortest, British media point out, was that of George Canning, who held office for 119 days before dying in 1827.

Truss, who will be his successor

As expected, the opposition went on the attack. And Britain’s opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer has called for an election “immediately” after Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns. But it is now in the Tory party that the post-Truss race starts. She herself said she hoped that the choice of the new chef would take place “in the next week”. Deeply divided, the Tories are likely to choose between Boris Johnson’s former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, and Penny Mordaunt. Jeremy Hunt, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, will not be a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party and therefore for the post of Prime Minister. This was announced by his spokesperson. Meanwhile, in addition to Labour, the Lib Dems are also insisting on the need to get back to voting.

Rishi Sunak. Photo Ansa / Epa Salle Neil

Liz Truss announced her resignation after receiving Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative Parliamentarians, in Downing Street. But also his closest allies: Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey and Conservative President Jake Berry. A trio that had to surround him politically, speak to him in a respectful and persuasive manner, as befits the party leader and Prime Minister of Great Britain. But making her understand beyond a shadow of a doubt that if she didn’t resign of her own free will, she could soon meet the party’s “tribunal”. Where clemency is not at home.

Penny Mordaunt. Photo Ansa / Epa Salle Neil