What to know about Liz Truss’s resignation

Yesterday afternoon BST, Liz Truss announced her resignation as the U.K.’s prime minister. Her 45-day tenure set a record: the shortest period served as PM in British history—by a wide margin.

The previous holder of that title, George Canning, died after 119 days in office in 1827. Yes, Truss was even outlasted by a head of lettuce. 

The ex-PM led the country through a seismic shift: the death of Queen Elizabeth II after 70 years on the throne, which makes Truss the only PM to serve under two monarchs since Winston Churchill, despite just six weeks on the job. 

Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

But the Conservative politician’s economic agenda, promising the most extensive tax cuts since the 1970s, quickly thrust the U.K. into turmoil.

“I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability,” Truss said in her resignation speech. “We set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit…I recognize, though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

She vowed that the party would choose her successor within a week. As Britain prepares for its fifth prime minister in six years, here’s what to know:

—The markets responded well to Truss’s ouster. The pound rose to $1.13 against the dollar. The currency had reached a record low of $1.03 in late September as Truss proposed her economic agenda.

—A few frontrunners have emerged to succeed Truss as PM. House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt is in the mix, along with former home secretary and anti-immigration hardliner Suella Braverman (though that’s unlikely after Truss fired her earlier this week). Truss’s opponent in the last election, Rishi Sunak, might run again, as well as Boris Johnson, who preceded Truss as PM.

—Labour and Liberal Democrat lawmakers are placing pressure on the Conservative government to call a general election, allowing politicians from other parties to pitch themselves for the job. However, the likelihood that the Tory government will do so is slim.

—Truss is only 47, and where she goes from here is anyone’s guess. The Economist wrote that she has “a strong claim to be the least successful prime minister in British history.” She was the third woman to lead Britain after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May; all three have been Conservatives.

Let’s hope that the next woman to step into the role sees a better outcome.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

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