Why was Truss’ tenure so short — and now what?

Liz Truss took office last month with hopes and promises of reinvigorating the British economy and putting it on the path to long-term success.

It didn’t go to plan.

Instead, Truss’ tenure was scarred 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.

Though 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 ($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.

That undermined confidence in the government’s ability to pay its bills and raised questions about the economic credentials of a new prime minister.

UK Tory MPs seek quick fix to succeed Liz Truss as PM

The Conservative Party is desperate to draw a line under Liz Truss’s disastrous premiership, with a rapid leadership contest aimed at trying to give the winner a shot at overturning an unprecedented deficit in the polls.

Under rules announced Thursday, a maximum of three Tory MPs will be able to run. The next leader could be decided as soon as Monday.

UK next Prime Minister could be decided Monday

Tory has set rules for the next UK Premier after Liz Truss quit on Thursday. 

-Contenders for the UK PM post will need the backing of 100 Tory lawmakers to get on the ballot, Graham Brady, the Member of Parliament who heads the panel that sets rules on leadership contests, told reporters on Thursday. There are 357 Conservative MPs, so a maximum of three of them will be able to run.

-Nominations close on Monday, when the ballot that is necessary to whittle the field down to a final two will also be conducted, Brady said. That will leave a final two. An indicative vote will then be taken among MPs, before the candidates are put to grassroots members in a deciding online ballot, with the result due to be announced on Oct. 28.

-The outcome of the first ballot of MPs will be announced at 6 pm on Monday. If an indicative vote is needed, the result would be announced at 9 pm

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Lettuce outlasts Liz Truss

A national newspaper on Thursday declared a lettuce the victor in a race to see if it could outlast Liz Truss, after the under-fire prime minister resigned.

The tabloid Daily Star set up a live feed on Friday showing the unrefrigerated iceberg next to a photo of Truss, asking readers: “Which wet lettuce will last longer?”

It later expanded the tableau, adding a wig, a face and grasping hands to the vegetable, as well as two British flags, a pasty on a plate and a red mug bearing the legend “Keep Calm and Carry On”, a slogan used to raise morale in Britain during World War Two.

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India’s trade talks with UK ‘on track’: Piyush Goyal

Talks on free trade agreements between India and Britain remain on track, and India will “wait and watch” the situation following the change in British leadership, India’s trade minister said on Thursday.

India and Britain launched negotiations in January this year for a pact that aims to double bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030.

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Pound, London stocks climb after Truss resignation

The London stock market and the pound bounced on Thursday after British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation following disastrous policies that rocked the markets for weeks.

The pound briefly surged more than one percent against the dollar to $1.1336 after Truss ended six tumultuous weeks in power — but analysts said gains were pared by the ongoing uncertainty.

The FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 percent while the country’s borrowing costs eased on the news, as the yield on 30-year government bonds, known as gilts, fell to 3.85 percent.

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TSX rises on boost from higher energy, metal prices

Canada’s main stock index reversed early losses today, as strong gains in energy and mining firms countered interest rate jitters and market uncertainty caused by the resignation of Liz Truss as UK’s prime minister.

US Prez Biden thanks Truss for her ‘partnership’ 

The United States and Britain are enduring allies, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday after British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation.

“The United States and the United Kingdom are strong Allies and enduring friends — and that fact will never change. I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine. We will continue our close cooperation with the U.K. government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face,” Biden said in a statement.

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Rishi Sunak ‘certain to stand’ for UK PM polls

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak is “certain to stand” in the contest to succeed Prime Minister Liz Truss, a reporter at the Telegraph newspaper said on Thursday citing people familiar with the developments. 

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What was Liz Truss’ tragic flaw?

The central mistake of Truss’s term was a massive £45 billion ($50 billion) package of tax cuts, amid the strongest inflation in four decades, that she drew up with Kwasi Kwarteng and unveiled without any independent analysis of how it would be funded. 
Read a detailed analysis of the situation here

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Russia calls Liz Truss a ‘disgrace’

“Britain has never known such a disgrace of a prime minister.”, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said after Liz Truss announces her resignation as the Prime Minister of Britain

Truss resigns without India FTA deal prize

The former International Trade Secretary, during Boris Johnson govt always batted for strong bilateral ties with India. Liz Truss had earlier described India as a “big, major opportunity” and believes the UK and India are “in a sweet spot of the trade dynamics that are building up.”

However, Truss quit office after a 45-day stint, without pursuing the ongoing FTA negotiations towards a year-end deadline as a major post-Brexit achievement for UK.

Jeremy Hunt won’t contest for Tory leadership

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt will not stand for leadership of the Conservative Party after Prime Minister Liz Truss said she would step down, Bloomberg quoted a spokesman

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Boris Johnson to contest for PM polls again?

Reuters reported that Liz Truss’ predecessor Boris Johnson is expected to stand in the Tory leadership contest to replace Truss as Prime Minister

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Next UK PM by 28 October

UK Conservative Party official has said that the election for next British Prime Minister will be held by 28 October

Top names to replace Liz Truss

Top names to replace outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss include Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, and Ben Wallace.

Considering the divisions in the Conservative party there is no evident candidate. However, any replacement would face a country likely heading into a recession.

Read more about the probable replacements for Truss here

Tories in chaos after top ministers quit

Truss was hanging on to power by a thread on Thursday, after a senior minister quit her government with a barrage of criticism and a no confidence vote in the House of Commons descended into chaos and acrimony.

Truss becomes shortest serving PM of UK

Truss’ resignation comes after her economic policies triggered turmoil in financial markets and a rebellion in her party obliterated her authority.

The crisis began when the Bank of England was forced into emergency bond-buying to stem a sharp sell-off in Britain’s 2.1 trillion pound ($2.3 trillion) government bond market that threatened to wreak havoc in the pension industry and increase recession risks

Read the key points to this big story here

‘I cannot deliver..’: Truss says in resignation speech

“I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.” Truss said in her resignation speech.

Read full text of her speech here

Truss to remain PM unless successor is chosen

Truss said she would stay on as prime minister until a successor is chosen to serve as Tory leader.

“We’ve agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week,” she said, after senior backbench MP Graham Brady told her the game was up.

Truss resigns as UK Prime Minister

Truss, 47, resigned after a brief and chaotic tenure that saw her announce a massive package of unfunded tax cuts before unwinding most of it in the face of a market rout.