Resignations, reversals and rebellion – the 44 days of Liz Truss’s premiership

Liz Truss has announced she will be leaving Downing Street just six weeks into the job.

So how did the leader go from securing her place at the top of the Conservative Party to leaving the most powerful post in the country after just 44 full days in office?

Let’s take a look.

Politics live: Sunak favourite to be new PM after Truss resigns

Monday 5 September

After a lengthy contest over the summer, Ms Truss beat Rishi Sunak to win the Conservative leadership and to become the UK’s next prime minister.

She promised to “deliver a bold plan” to cut taxes and grow the economy, and told the membership: “I campaigned as a Conservative and I will govern as a Conservative.”

Tuesday 6 September

Ms Truss travelled to Balmoral to meet the Queen and to officially be asked to form a government.

After returning to Downing Street through the wind and rain, she gave a speech promising the country could “ride out the storm” of the cost of living crisis.

The new prime minister then began to appoint her cabinet, with close allies Therese Coffey and Kwasi Kwarteng getting top jobs as health secretary and chancellor respectively.

Wednesday 7 September

After less than 24 hours in the top job, Truss held her first cabinet meeting before facing her inaugural Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons.

She promised to take “immediate action” on energy bills, but refused Labour’s call for a further windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies, telling MPs: “We cannot tax our way to growth.”

Thursday 8 September

The PM returned to the Commons to outline her energy plan, promising to set a cap on household prices for two years and to offer support to businesses for six months.

But the key policy moment was soon overshadowed by the news breaking that the Queen was gravely ill.

At 6.30pm, the palace announced her death, and soon after, Ms Truss gave a speech on the steps of Downing Street saying the monarch had been “the rock on which modern Britain was built”.

9 to 19 September

The country moved into a period of national mourning, and the new prime minister played a key part as the UK said farewell to its monarch.

After leading tributes in the Commons, she attended the accession to the throne of King Charles, and followed him to cathedral services in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

After her first official audience with the King, rumours circulated that she had advised him not to attend the COP27 climate change summit – something he is known to have strong views about – but this was dismissed by Downing Street.

And on the day of the funeral, Ms Truss gave a reading at the service.

Tuesday 20 September

Having hosted world leaders in London for the Queen’s funeral, the PM headed to New York for her first United Nations General Assembly.

She gave her speech to the gathered delegates, and had her first official one-on-one with US President Joe Biden.

In front of the cameras, he made sure to make one point clear to her following her plan to scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol – part of the post-Brexit trade deal to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.

“We are both committed to protecting the Good Friday Agreement of Northern Ireland and I’m looking forward to hearing what’s on your mind,” said Mr Biden.

Friday 23 September

Back in London and it was a big day for Ms Truss’s chancellor as he took to the despatch box in the Commons to deliver his so-called mini-budget, or “the growth plan”.

Some of Mr Kwarteng’s policies had been expected as the PM had made clear during her leadership campaign that she would reverse the rise in National Insurance to pay for health and social care, and lower taxes.

But the scale of tax cuts was immense, and particular ire was targeted at the decision to scrap the 45p tax rate for the highest earners in the country, that all the measures would be funded through borrowing, and that there was no fiscal analysis from the Office of Budget Responsibility.

And the markets were spooked, with yields on gilts immediately spiking higher due to the prospect of a big surge in government borrowing.

Monday 26 September

The bad reaction to the growth plan played into the hands of Labour over the weekend as the party gathered in Liverpool for its annual conference.

And things got worse after Mr Kwarteng took to the airwaves, promising there were more tax cuts to follow.

The pound plunged as the markets made their view on the new leadership in Downing Street clear, and the Bank of England said it would “not hesitate to change interest rates as necessary”.

Tuesday 27 September

The fall-out from the mini-budget continued to grow and the pound continued to plunge.

Mortgage lenders began to remove products as fears of interest rates soaring grew stronger.

But Ms Truss had to be convinced to issue a government statement in an attempt to calm the markets.

The Treasury promised an update would be given on 23 November on how the government would ensure borrowing would not spiral out of control.

However, in an extraordinary statement on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it was “closely monitoring” developments in the UK and urged Mr Kwarteng to “re-evaluate the tax measures”.

Wednesday 28 September

The markets were still in turmoil.

The chancellor organised a meeting with bankers to try to reassure them about his plans and underline his commitment to fiscal discipline, having held calls with concerned MPs the night before.

But things went from bad to worse when the Bank of England was forced to intervene, launching a temporary bond-buying programme to prevent “material risk” to UK financial stability.

As calls increased for a U-turn and even Mr Kwarteng’s resignation, the government ruled it out, with one minister telling Sky News it was “bulls***t” to say the market chaos was due to the mini-budget.

Thursday 29 September

The chaos was not just in Westminster or the markets, it was getting through to voters as well.

After a united Labour conference and a well-received speech from party leader Sir Keir Starmer, the party surged ahead in the polls, totting up a massive 33-point lead in a YouGov poll, with many more positive surveys following over the coming days.

Translated to a general election, Sir Keir would get a vote share of 54% compared to just 21% for the Tories.

But the PM came out to defend her and Mr Kwarteng’s fiscal plans again, insisting the mini-budget was necessary to help people and businesses facing soaring living costs.

Sunday 2 October

The party faithful gathered in Birmingham for the Conservative Party conference, but many MPs stayed away amid the ongoing rows around the economic plan.

Ms Truss appeared on the BBC and made her first hint of an apology for the chaos, admitting she “should have laid the ground better” for the tax cutting mini-budget, saying she had “learnt from that” and would “make sure in future we will do a better job”.

But the rebellion was already swelling, specifically around the scrapping of the 45p tax rate, with former frontbenchers Michael Gove and Grant Shapps seeming to lead the charge.

The PM doubled down on the policy, appearing to throw her chancellor under the bus by saying it was a decision taken by Mr Kwarteng. But a spokesman later said the pair were “in lockstep” on the measure.

Monday 3rd October

The rebellion grows as MPs gossiped in the fringe events around the conference centre in Birmingham.

Mr Gove said he would vote against the 45p tax rate if it comes to the Commons, while chair of the Treasury Committee – and close Sunak ally – Mel Stride demanded OBR forecasts are brought forward.

Then came the U-turn. Mr Kwarteng confirmed the 45p plan had been scrapped just hours before he took to the stage for his conference speech, saying it had become a “distraction” and adding: “We get it, we have listened.”

Despite the blow to his authority, the chancellor insisted he has “not at all” considered resigning.

The PM echoed his comments, and insisted her focus is now “building a high growth economy”.

Tuesday 4 October

More questions were raised about the relationship between the PM and her chancellor after Ms Truss repeatedly refused to say whether she trusted Mr Kwarteng following the 45p tax rate U-turn.

But she told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that she had “absolutely no shame” about the change of direction.

Meanwhile, a fresh battle emerged over whether the government would increase benefits in line with inflation – a pledge made by her predecessor Boris Johnson.

Cabinet cohesion appeared to fall by the wayside as Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt told reporters the rise should happen, while Home Secretary Suella Braverman accused MPs of staging a “coup” against the prime minister.

Wednesday 5 October

On the final day of conference, Ms Truss got up to give her keynote speech and vowed to “get Britain through the tempest”, insisting “everyone will benefit” from the result of her economic policies.

She told the audience she and her chancellor “will keep closely co-ordinating our monetary and fiscal policy” after the government’s tax-cutting mini-budget which caused such market turmoil.

And she coined the phrase “the anti-growth coalition” as she attacked Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, protesters and unions.

Thursday 6 October

Conference over, and Ms Truss took to the international stage again, flying to Prague to meet with European leaders about their response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

She had bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

The summit also came after Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney revealed the UK and EU would be holding talks during the week to resolve issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol – part of the Brexit deal aimed at preventing a harder border on the island of Ireland.

But rows within her party over the mini-budget and future plans for benefits continued to roll on at home, and would need to be faced when she got back.

Friday 7 October

Worrying warnings were issued by the National Grid that the UK households and businesses might face planned three-hour outages to ensure that the grid does not collapse in the “unlikely” event gas supplies fall short of demand during the winter.

But on the same day, there was friction between Ms Truss and her Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg over a campaign to advise the public to watch their energy usage.

Mr Rees-Mogg was believed to have backed a £15m campaign for over the winter to give out public information on energy saving.

But the Times reported he was overruled by the PM as she was “ideologically opposed” to such an approach as it could be too interventionist.

Monday 10 October

As markets continued to voice concerns over the mini-budget and MPs increasingly demanded an earlier update on how the chancellor plans to pay for all the measures, Mr Kwarteng confirmed he would bring forward the date of his medium-term fiscal update from the end of November to Halloween.

A spokesperson said he wanted to set out his commitment to debt falling over the medium term “as soon as possible” and the new date was “the right time to do that”.

And the government committed to it being accompanied by that all-important OBR forecast.

Tuesday 11 October

After a turbulent conference season recess, MPs returned to Westminster, with Labour promising to step up pressure on the government to U-turn on its entire mini-budget.

The chancellor opened business with Treasury Questions, and MPs saw through Ms Truss’ reversal of the National Insurance hike from earlier this year.

But there was still debate within the Tory Party about the direction of the PM, with one MP suggesting she would need to reintroduce a rise in corporation tax to pay for her policies.

Meanwhile, it was leaked to the press that Ms Truss planned to ban solar panels from farmland, saying they were “a blight on the landscape”.

It caused uproar within her party and the climate change lobby, all amid her ongoing pledge to bring fracking to the UK.

Wednesday 12 October

Ahead of her second PMQs since winning the keys to Number 10, the government announced it would cap the revenues of renewable energy firms to stop them benefitting from record profits.

It was welcomed by Labour, who said it was the windfall tax they had been calling for – but they wanted more action on oil and gas companies.

During the main Commons event, Ms Truss then pledged not to cut public spending.

But it raised even more questions about how the government would pay for its plans, especially after the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the chancellor would need to find £60bn of cuts to cover them.

As Tories continued to voice their concerns and unrest grew, Ms Truss embarked on a so-called “charm offensive” to try to win back the critics within her own party, touring the tea rooms and appealing to members of the 1922.

Thursday 13 October

Mr Kwarteng got on a plane and headed to Washington DC to meet leaders of the IMF – a difficult meeting considering the organisation’s previous critcisim of his fiscal plans.

But the open revolt at home was growing, with the likes of former home secretary Priti Patel saying “market forces” could make a government U-turn on corporation tax cuts unavoidable.

Downing Street insisted the prime minister and the chancellor “remained committed” to the growth plan.

But late on Thursday, after a hasty briefing with journalists, the chancellor cut his trip short and got on a plane to head home amid rumours of further U-turns.

Mr Kwarteng insisted that his position was safe, saying: “I am not going anywhere.”

Friday 14 October

Straight from the airport, Mr Kwarteng headed to Number 10. And after just 38 days in the job, Ms Truss fired one of her closest friends and allies in an attempt to win back the confidence, not only of her party, but of the markets and the public.

In a letter to the PM, he said her “vision is the right one” but he “accepted” her position.

Within an hour, his successor was appointed – former health and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt.

He came from a very different wing of the party, and again showed Ms Truss reaching out to try and reunite MPs behind her.

In a tense press conference later that afternoon, she confirmed the latest U-turn from her government – reintroducing the rise in corporation tax to 25% – saying: “The way we deliver our mission has to changed.”

But she added the “mission remains” to deliver a “low-tax, high-wage, high-growth economy”.

Saturday 15 October

The new chancellor hit the airwaves to hammer home the message it was all change in the Treasury.

Mr Hunt said there had been “mistakes” in the mini-budget from his predecessor and his boss, and that it had been an error to “fly blind” by not having an OBR forecast alongside it.

He revealed the government “won’t have the speed of tax cuts we were hoping for and some taxes will go up”.

And asked if this would mean a return to austerity, he replied: “I don’t think we’re talking about austerity in the way we had it in 2010. But we’re going to have to take tough decisions on both spending and tax.”

Mr Hunt also released a statement on Saturday night saying his focus was on “growth underpinned by stability”.

Monday 17 October

By Monday, the U-turns were in full swing. Mr Hunt made a statement from the Treasury saying he was reversing “almost all” of the tax cuts announced in Mr Kwarteng’s mini-budget and was scaling back support for energy bills.

He said the 1p cut to income tax would be delayed “indefinitely” and the government’s energy price guarantee would only be universal until April – not for two years as originally planned.

Meanwhile, Labour secured an urgent question in the Commons about what had happened with the ousting of the former chancellor in the days before.

Rather than answering the question, the PM sent Penny Mordaunt to the despatch box, where she said Ms Truss wasn’t “hiding under a desk” but was busy with work.

Yet in the closing minutes of the event, the prime minister came into the chamber in preparation for Mr Hunt’s statement on the long list of reversals of policy.

While many MPs welcomed the new chancellor and the change of direction, other were furious, and the attempts to settle the mood of the party did not seem to be working. Without her policies, it was unclear what the PM had to offer.

Tuesday 18 October

Ms Truss’s premiership was hanging by a thread. Questions over what further decisions Mr Hunt would make to balance the books led to rumours of abandoning the pensions triple lock, cutting benefits, and even reducing the defence budget.

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said he remained supportive of Ms Truss, unlike many of his colleagues, but there was no more room for error after the previous day of U-turns.

During a full cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, the chancellor told ministers every department would need to find savings, a Treasury source said, with many cabinet ministers wondering how.

Ms Truss continued to hold meetings with MPs from various factions of the party, but there was a sense in the air that things were not going her way.

Wednesday 19 October

It was just Ms Truss’s third appearance at PMQs, but a lot of pressure was mounting on her to give the performance of her life.

She told the Commons she was a “fighter” not a “quitter”, and many in her party seemed calmed by her performance.

But within hours, her Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced her exit from cabinet – technically over breaking the ministerial code, but with a resignation letter slamming the performance of the government.

Things went from bad to worse later in the evening over a vote on fracking in the Commons that Tory MPs had been told was equivalent to a “confidence vote” in the PM.

Confusion reigned. Reports of bullying tactics and man-handling came from the voting lobbies, the chief whip resigned, then was back in post, it was unclear if the three-line whip was in place and the party was furious, with MPs starting to publicly call for Ms Truss to resign.

Thursday 20 October

After the chaos of the Commons the night before, the number of MPs calling for Ms Truss to go began to pick up momentum.

The chair of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, was seen going in the backdoor of Downing Street, and a Number 10 spokesman confirmed the pair were meeting at the PM’s request.

Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey was seen entering next, followed by Conservative Party Chairman Jake Berry.

Shortly after 1.30pm, after just 44 days in power, Ms Truss came out onto the street and announced she was resigning, with a new PM to be chosen within one week.