“It won’t be easy, but I know we can do it.” Just 45 days ago, Liz Truss said those words in her inaugural speech as the UK’s new Prime Minister. She promised to invest in jobs, housing and the economy. But six weeks later, none of those promises have come true.

“Truss’ legacy is that she will appear in pub quizzes as the shortest-serving prime minister,” the BBC said. This departure was sudden, but not unexpected. Since taking office, the prime minister has been criticized from many quarters. What went wrong?

Better another

Even as she took office, political analysts pointed out that Truss was lagging behind before she even took office as prime minister. It all had to do with the Conservative Party leadership race, which she won at the last minute.

In the voting rounds among the conservative parliamentarians, it was not Truss who emerged as the clear winner, but ex-minister Rishi Sunak. Ultimately, Truss was named party leader – and thus prime minister – thanks to the votes she received from party members across the country, some 172,000 people (0.3 percent of the electorate).

Truss therefore had to take office as prime minister knowing that her party members would have preferred another leader.

In an already divided faction, it resonated primarily on the right wing. She promised to give the economy a strong boost, including through tax cuts worth billions. To this end, at the end of September she presented a comprehensive package together with her finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng.

But the so-called “mini-budget” by no means had the effect that Truss had hoped for. In particular, their intention to lower taxes on the highest incomes caused great turbulence on the financial markets. She hoped to close the household by borrowing heavily.

Although the tax cut was only a small part of the overall package, it proved highly symbolic for many Britons in a time of poverty and high inflation. The left opposition was strongly opposed, and there was resistance within Truss’s own faction.

In the financial markets, the pound collapsed and mortgage rates rose. To top it off, regulators at the Bank of England intervened by buying government bonds, and the International Monetary Fund slapped the British government on the knuckles for saying the plans would encourage inequality.

The British were not surprised by Truss’s resignation:

Earlier this month, Truss scrapped the controversial plan and ended the Trussonomics. In addition, she was forced to sacrifice her confidante and friend Kwarteng.

He was replaced by veteran Jeremy Hunt, who rescinded nearly all plans announced. She apologized for the debacle on TV, but that didn’t restore her confidence.

Tensions within the Conservatives reached another high yesterday when Suella Braverman resigned and Truss lost a key minister for the second time in a week. Braverman officially left her over a formal error in her communications. But in her farewell letter, she struck at the cabinet: “I have doubts about the course the government has taken.”

chaos complete

For the Tories, chaos seems complete after today. Next week the party will elect a new leader, who will automatically become prime minister. But many analysts I wonder if the party can still justify this to the voters to dismiss the election of the new chairman as an internal party matter.

Opposition leader Starmer said immediately after Truss’ departure that elections should be held. But the ailing Tory party apparently does not want to get involved in that. It was announced tonight that there will be a new prime minister by October 28 at the latest.