THE SQUIZ
UK PM Liz Truss has resigned overnight after 45 tumultuous days in office – she will become the shortest-serving PM in British history when she is replaced next week. Truss blamed “the situation” of “great economic and international instability” and said “I recognise that I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.” But earlier this week, she became “the least popular PM in the history of polling” with 80% of respondents to a mainstay survey viewing her unfavourably.

WHAT WENT WRONG?
It’s been a bumpy ride – and the lettuce has won… Last week, Truss fired Chancellor (Treasurer) Kwasi Kwarteng and made a huge policy U-turn dumping her tax cuts agenda after her ‘mini budget’ caused an allergic reaction in financial markets. And then things fell apart at pace for Truss over the last couple of days. Determined to dig in, she had told the Parliament mid-week that she was a “fighter, not a quitter”. But a parliamentary vote on fracking became an unofficial confidence vote, and there were claims that some MPs were “physically manhandled” into backing Truss. Adding to the chaos, Home Secretary Suella Braverman quit her post with a scathing letter, and rumours swirled other senior members of the team had resigned. Labour leader Keir Stamer has called for an election, saying “the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos.”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Truss’s successor will be elected by next week in a process that will see 2 candidates put to party members – unless there is just one candidate for the leadership. So who’s next? So far, none of the candidates that ran against Truss after Boris Johnson was turfed out of office has said if they will have another go except for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who has ruled himself out. Two men are being talked about a lot already: former PM Johnson and Truss’s main competitor in the last round, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Former PM Theresa May said “MPs must now be prepared to compromise. It is our duty to provide sensible, competent government at this critical moment for our country.” The Conservatives have been in power for 12 years, and the next general election is not due to take place until January 2025.