British PM Liz Truss quit on Thursday after just 45 days in office — and after boasting of a woke, progressive cabinet.
Early in her short tenure, Truss selected a cabinet where not a single white man held one of the country’s four most important ministerial positions — a first in British history. But the former PM’s attention to progressiveness did not keep her in power long.
“I came into office during a time of great economic and international instability,” Truss said on Thursday, before announcing her resignation.
“I was elected by the conservative party with a mandate to change this.”
“We delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance. And we set out a vision for a low-tax, high growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.”
“I recognize though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the conservative party. I have therefore spoken to his majesty the king to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the conservative party.”
She further stated there will be a leadership election within the next week to find a new leader.
The day prior to resigning, Truss said “I’m a fighter, not a quitter.”
Truss’ short time in office was marred by instability and inconsistency.
She originally proposed a tax plan including massive cuts and increased spending to help families with soaring energy bills. But immediately after announcing such, the already tenuous markets responded poorly.
The British pound dropped enough to cause The Bank of England to step in and warn of “material risk to U.K. financial stability.”
Truss then backtracked on her tax plan because there was so much outrage over it. She subsequently fired her finance minister in what many deemed was an attempt to save her own job.
Truss’ brief time in office followed scandal-plagued PM Boris Johnson, who resigned in August after he lost trust from fellow MPs.
But unlike Johnson, Truss lasted just six weeks before she called it quits. Her brief role as PM is the shortest in British history.
