Conservative Party leader Liz Truss defeated her rival Rishi Sunak on September 5 to win the Tory leadership race. With her election promises of immediate action on energy prices and economic reforms, many people believed Liz Truss’s bold post-election proclamation of “we’ll deliver, we’ll deliver, we’ll deliver.” However, after only 41 days in charge, Liz Truss appears to be clinging to power, as rumours of a Tory rebellion circulate.
Liz Truss is the Conservatives’ fourth prime minister since the June 2016 Brexit referendum. Theresa May took over as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after David Cameron stepped down in June 2016. However, the Brexit agreement became a point of contention for Theresa May, who resigned in June 2019 due to the stalled deal. Boris Johnson took office in July 2019 amid the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the possibility of no deal with the European Union. However, three years later, the prime minister’s mass defection, as well as other controversies surrounding his tenure, forced Boris Johnson’s resignation in July of this year. Liz Truss was elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after a bitter leadership battle with Rishi Sunak.
Liz Truss was expected to bring stability to a country beleaguered by inflation, soaring energy prices, and rising living costs.
When Liz Truss took over as Prime Minister, she inherited all of these issues. The energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war had driven up energy costs to unsustainable levels, endangering both businesses and individuals. Liz Truss was expected to announce immediate financial assistance for households while also attempting to address the deep-seated issues exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Liz Truss was also expected to respond quickly to rising inflation. In July, annual inflation in the United Kingdom was 10.1%, owing to the country’s reliance on gas imports and the rapidly weakening Pound.