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October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis

In September and October 2022, the government of the United Kingdom, led by the Conservative party and the newly-appointed prime minister Liz Truss, went through an energy, economic and political crisis.

Prime Minister Liz Truss announces her resignation (cropped) (3).jpg
Liz Truss announcing her intention to resign as Conservative leader on 20 October 2022
Date14–20 October 2022
CauseSeptember 2022 mini-budget
Confusion over a parliamentary vote to ban fracking
MotivePressure Liz Truss to resign
ParticipantsConservative Party MPs
Outcome

Budget and economic crises

The crisis began after the 23 September 2022 United Kingdom mini-budget, which had many critics and negative responses by the world financial markets.[1] This caused Truss to fire Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, on 14 October.[2]

In the next days Truss had many pressures to continue reversing many of her economic policies and by 17 October five Conservative Members of Parliament had called for her resignation.[3] Many world leaders such as U.S. President Joe Biden criticized Truss's economic policies.[4]

Overall, her economic policies caused the pound to fall to a record low against the US dollar[5] and there was an increase in the cost of government borrowing.[6]

Political crises

On 19 October Suella Braverman, the home secretary, resigned over a technical breach of the Ministerial Code.[7] Braverman's resignation letter was very critical of Truss. Later that day, MPs voted on a Labour Party motion to create time to debate a ban on fracking in the United Kingdom. The vote caused confusion among Conservative MPs who were not clear if it was a confidence vote.

On 17 and 20 October, Truss had meetings with Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee.[8] The meeting on 17 October caused Truss to miss an emergency Prime Minister's Questions, in which Penny Mordaunt, answered on Truss's behalf.[9] Truss not going to the debate was criticized by many politicians.[10]

Truss's resignation

On 20 October Truss announced that she would resign, but remain in office until the Conservative Party had chosen her replacement.[11] She is the shortest serving Prime Minister in history. The leadership election was held shortly after with Rishi Sunak elected to replace her on 24 October 2022.

Lettuce comparison

On 11 October, The Economist published an article criticising Truss and said that she had seven days in control of the economy. They wrote: "That is roughly the shelf-life of a lettuce."[12] Since then, many commentators were comparing Truss's time as prime minister to lettuce. On 14 October, the Daily Star began a live stream on YouTube of a lettuce dressed as Truss to see if it would rot before the Prime Minister resigned, which it did not.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Sally Hickey (27 September 2022). IMF warns UK over mini-Budget tax cuts. Financial Times advisor. https://www.ftadviser.com/investments/2022/09/28/imf-warns-uk-over-mini-budget-tax-cuts/. Retrieved 29 September 2022. 
  2. ↑ Nevett, Joshua (14 October 2022). "Kwasi Kwarteng: PM's vision was right, says sacked chancellor". BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  3. ↑ Turner, Camilla (17 October 2022). "The Tory MPs calling for Liz Truss to resign" (in en-GB). The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235 . https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/17/tory-mps-calling-liz-truss-resign/. Retrieved 17 October 2022. 
  4. ↑ "Joe Biden: Liz Truss tax cuts a ‘mistake’ and ‘I wasn’t the only one’ who thought so". The Guardian. 16 October 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/oct/16/joe-biden-liz-truss-tax-cuts-a-mistake-and-i-wasnt-the-only-one-who-thought-so. Retrieved 16 October 2022. 
  5. ↑ "Pound sinks as investors question huge tax cuts". BBC. 23 September 2022. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63009173. Retrieved 21 October 2022. 
  6. ↑ "Mini-budget: Why financial markets have been spooked by the chancellor's growth plan". Sky News. https://news.sky.com/story/mini-budget-why-financial-markets-have-been-spooked-by-chancellors-growth-plan-12703889. Retrieved 21 October 2022. 
  7. ↑ "Suella Braverman has departed role as home secretary after sharing secure information on private phone". Sky News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  8. ↑ "Liz Truss's future as PM uncertain as more Tory MPs call for her to step down". BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  9. ↑ Liz Truss to dodge MPs' questions, sending Penny Mordaunt instead. 17 October 2022. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liz-truss-mordaunt-starmer-budget-b2204348.html. Retrieved 17 October 2022. 
  10. ↑ "Liz Truss leaves the Commons an hour after arriving late because of 'meeting with Sir Graham Brady'". LBC. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister". BBC News. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  12. ↑ Liz Truss has made Britain a riskier bet for bond investors. 11 October 2022. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/10/11/liz-truss-has-made-britain-a-riskier-bet-for-bond-investors. Retrieved 20 October 2022. 
  13. ↑ "Iceberg lettuce in blond wig outlasts Liz Truss". the Guardian. 2022-10-20. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
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