Truss’s Exit Leaves Tories at the Last Chance Saloon
As Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister resigns, job one for her successor will be to restore a sense of competence
Liz Truss announces her resignation outside of 10 Downing Street.
Photographer: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images EuropeLast week, bets were taken on whether a head of lettuce would outlast Liz Truss’s premiership. The livestreamed wilting lettuce won. Six days after dumping Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng — along with her entire economic program — Truss told the King, and then the public, that she’s stepping down. “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected.”
Truss proved every bit as unfit for office as her many detractors had warned when Conservative Party members chose her 44 days ago over Rishi Sunak to lead the country. But as her party selects its fourth prime minister since David Cameron resigned in the wake of the Brexit referendum, is there any confidence they’ll do better this time?