They left her no choice. The English Premier Liz Truzz has resigned before suffering the humiliation of being kicked out of the same party that just 45 days ago elected her leader of the Tories and prime minister. Never in the history of the United Kingdom has anyone stayed in Downing Street for such a short period.
Liz Truss' farewell speech
“I acknowledge, given the situation, of unable to fulfill the mandate on the basis of which I was elected by the Conservative Party – said Truss in a short speech delivered in front of the Downing Street entrance -. I have spoken to His Majesty the King to inform him that I resign as leader of the Conservative Party".
With the resigned tone of someone who knows they have no other alternative, Truss explained: “I took office at a time of great economic and international instability. Households and businesses were concerned about how to pay their bills. Putin's war in Ukraine threatens the security of our entire continent." Then the admission: “I was elected with the mandate to create greater economic growth, but I didn't succeed".
The Tories: "Either you leave alone or we'll kick you out"
Truss announced his resignation after meeting Graham Brady, the head of the so-called 1922 Committee, the body which, in addition to managing the internal elections of the Conservative Party, also organizes the vote of no confidence when a large number of representatives communicate their intention to vote against the current prime minister.
During their conversation Brady let Truss know that the majority of the party had now turned away from her. At that point the premier had no other choice: to leave alone or suffer the humiliation of be kicked out of her own party.
Reasons for resignation
Truss's credibility totally evaporated, as did his political authority, after the announcement unfortunate 43 billion tax plan which envisaged huge structural expenditure entirely financed in deficit e a tax cut in favor of the richest segments of the population. A proposal that unleashed an unparalleled storm on the markets, causing the collapse of the pound, soaring rates on gilts – British government bonds – and the collapse of pension funds. Fibrillations so strong as to even force the Bank of England to intervene, putting in place a £65 billion contingency plan.
In order to repair the mess, Truss last week kicked out his Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, replacing him with the more moderate Jeremy Hunt which he did as the first act of his mandate tabula rasa of the tax plan of its predecessor. Yesterday, the Government led by you had lost another important piece with the resignation (also forced) of the Interior Minister Suella Braverman.
The reaction of the markets, sterling on the rise
For now, markets prefer to wait and see what happens, but the pound "seems to be taking it well" despite the UK looking set for weeks of political and economic uncertainty. After the announcement of his resignation, in fact, the pound shot up to 1,13 against the dollar and is currently on the rise by half a cent at $1,126, while the Ftse100 of London it widened the morning's red and is now losing almost 1% of its value.
“Overall, Truss's resignation is a necessary step for the UK government to move further along the path towards restoring credibility in the eyes of the financial markets,” he told the BBC Paul Dales, UK chief economist at Capital Economics, explaining that the markets welcomed the news of the resignation with relief. "But more needs to be done and the new prime minister and their chancellor have the big task of guiding the economy through the cost-of-living crisis, the loan crisis and the credibility crisis."
What will happen now?
In her farewell speech outside 10 Downing Street, Liz Truss announced that the Conservative Party will complete theelection of a new leader within the next week. Recall that in the UK, the leader of the party that wins the election automatically becomes Prime Minister as well.
A statement also confirmed by Sir Graham Brady will be possible to conduct a vote to elect the new leader by 28 October. “So we should have a new leader in office before the budget declaration which will take place on the 31st,” said the number one of the 1922 Committee.
According to forecasts, the former finance minister could take Truss's place Rishi sunak, the man who forced Johnson to resign and then challenged Truss herself for the party leadership. However, Braverman and the same could also enter the race Boris Johnson.
However, the opposition, also strengthened by the polls which show the Labor party leading by 32 points, has no intention of standing still and observing the internal election of the fifth prime minister in six years. Labor leader Keir Starmer has already clamored early elections in order to restore stability and credibility to a UK in the grip of chaos. A request that was soon joined by the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party.
The only certainty at the moment is that the UK is facing a political earthquake comparable only to that experienced in the days following Brexit, when stock markets crashed and Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to resign. The situation is further complicated by an increasingly precarious economic situation, with inflation exceeding the psychological threshold of 10%, skyrocketing bills despite the ceiling and the prices of the main foodstuffs rising by 14,5% over a year does.
