Her hopes and promises of reinvigorating the British economy and putting it on the path to long-term success, went awry leading to her swift exit.
London: Liz Truss, who took office last month as the UK’s third woman Prime Minister and the last to receive the traditional Royal approval from the late Queen Elizabeth II a day she died at Balmoral on Thursday, September 8, has resigned from her post on Thursday, October 20, a report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
But her hopes and promises of reinvigorating the British economy and putting it on the path to long-term success, went awry leading to her swift exit.
The Conservative Party has announced it would choose a new leader and prime minister by October 28. Truss will remain prime minister until then.
Truss’ tenure was marked by turmoil as her economic policies threatened the country’s financial stability, driving the pound to record lows, sparking chaos on bond markets and increasing mortgage costs for millions of people.
Although Truss took office amid a cost-of-living crisis, the war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, her decision to announce 105 billion pounds (USD 116 billion) of tax cuts and spending increases without providing details on how she would pay for it unnerved investors, who warned of soaring public debt.
This decidedly undermined confidence in the government’s ability to pay its bills and raised questions about the economic credentials of a new prime minister,.
Party leaders have opted for a fast-track process where lawmakers would have greater say in the choice and without weeks of hustings around the country.
Under this process contenders for the leadership must garner the support of 100 other Conservative lawmakers — out of a total 357 — by Monday afternoon. That means a maximum field of three for lawmakers to vote on. The last-placed candidate would then be eliminated and the top two candidates would face an online vote of the party membership.
Party leaders have opted for a fast-track process where lawmakers would have greater say in the choice and without weeks of hustings around the country.
Conservative leaders hope this lightning contest would produce a consensus candidate who could unite the party behind the tax and spending priorities outlined by Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt
The first challenge will come just days after the new incumbent takes office, when Hunt delivers his fiscal plan to the House of Commons on October 31.
Truss triggered the crisis that led to her downfall when she and Hunt’s predecessor unveiled plans for sweeping tax cuts without saying how they would pay for them and without providing independent analysis of their impact on government finances.
Since taking office last week, Hunt has reversed most of those cuts and promised to cut government debt as a percentage of economic output in the coming years. He has also warned that painful spending cuts will be needed during what’s likely to be a “difficult” winter.
However, opposition parties and some Conservative lawmakers are already pushing for increased spending in areas such as healthcare, welfare benefits, state pensions and free school lunches to shield the poorest in society from spiraling prices.
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