Tuesday 6 September: taking office in a cloudburst
Liz Truss’ premiership begins on September 6 with a cloudburst. Shortly before her arrival at Downing Street, the rain begins to pour down from the sky. It looks like Truss will have to address her colleagues and the press indoors, but it dries up just in time so she can still deliver her speech in front of the official residence. This wasn’t the only omen of a heady premiership: Truss had accidentally tweeted “I’m ready to hit the ground” in her candidacy, instead of “I’m ready to hit the ground.” hit the ground running” (“I’m ready to hit it”).
Thursday 8 September: the other Elizabeth dies
Two days after taking office, Truss looks up in awe during a House of Commons debate when a piece of paper is pressed into her hands. This is when the Prime Minister learns that Queen Elizabeth is dying. A few hours later, the queen is dead and ten days of national mourning begin. This offers Truss the opportunity – between obligations such as a first meeting with King Charles and the reading of a Bible text during the funeral service – to work on a revolutionary mini-budget in the shade with her Minister of Finance Kwasi Kwarteng.
Friday September 23: ‘Kamikwasi’ budget presentation
Kwarteng presents in the House of Commons the interim budget he has drawn up with Truss in a South London pub. It is a radical document. To stimulate growth, Kwarteng promises the British tax cuts worth 50 billion euros, which mainly benefit the rich. Because no cutbacks are foreseen, the government has to borrow heavily. The financial markets smell danger and the pound is falling hard. Later that day, Kwarteng toasts with friends from the world of hedge funds.
Wednesday, September 28: The Bank of England saves the economy
After Minister Kwarteng announced further tax cuts during a television interview, interest rates on British bonds rose. From Washington come warning words from the International Monetary Fund about the direction the Truss administration has taken. The Bank of England is forced to buy tens of billions in government bonds to prevent pension funds from going bankrupt. Despite everything, Truss and Kwarteng stand their ground.
Monday 3 October: the first turnaround
After a tumultuous party congress, which discussed an imminent coup against Truss, the prime minister reports that the highest tax rate of 45 percent, ever introduced by Gordon Brown, will not be abolished after all. ‘We get it, we’ve listened,’ says Kwarteng. It’s the first time that part of the mini-budget has been cut, despite Truss’s promise never to retrace her steps. It later transpires that Kwarteng had wanted to maintain the rate, but had been pressured by Truss.
Tuesday 11 October: dispute over migration from India
During the party leadership campaign, Truss highlighted her successes as Secretary of State in negotiating trade deals. After US President Joe Biden had already dashed British hopes of a transatlantic trade deal, a deal with India now also seems a long way off. Home Secretary Suella Braverman does not intend to relax visa policy for Indians. Indian Prime Minister Modi is angry, and in London Truss is also unhappy with her minister.
Wednesday 12 October: another untenable promise
In the weekly question time, Truss allows herself to be seduced by a promise that she will not be able to keep. Challenged by opposition leader Keir Starmer, she promises that there will be no cuts in government spending under her rule. That’s not the kind of news the financial markets want to hear: they’re still wondering where the money for the remaining tax dodders will come from.
Thursday, October 13: mocked by the king
Buckingham Palace releases a video of Truss making her appearance before the king for their weekly meeting. Charles greets her with the words: ‘Back again? Dear oh dear,’ which gives the impression that he is not happy with his prime minister. A week earlier, the king, a climate activist, had been told Truss did not want him to go to the next climate summit. The relationship between the two doesn’t seem right.
Friday, October 14: Quarteng is sacrificed
Truss summons Kwarteng, who is in the US for an International Monetary Fund summit, to return to London as soon as possible. In the taxi from Heathrow to Downing Street, the Chancellor of the Exchequer reads in the times that he was fired. Later in the day, Truss declares that corporate taxes are going up anyway – another twist. She appoints Jeremy Hunt as Secretary of the Treasury. Truss is accused of using Kwarteng as a scapegoat and should resign herself.
Monday, October 17: Hunt takes power
The new minister Jeremy Hunt takes the lead and refers the controversial budget to the trash, including part of the energy compensation. In the House of Commons, Truss sits like a dead bird next to Hunt as he lays out a financial policy that runs counter to what she would have wanted. Hunt also says that painful cuts are coming, while Truss had said five days earlier in the House of Commons that there were no such cuts. ‘In office, not in power’, headline The Daily Mail in chocolate letters.
Wednesday, October 19: The Tories fight each other out of the House of Commons
Again Truss loses a top minister: Suella Braverman resigns from the Interior. Officially because she had sent a government document through her private email, but in the background there is an argument about migration policy. In the evening there are chaotic scenes in the House of Commons, where Conservative MPs are forced to vote on shale gas extraction, which Truss describes as a vote on her position.
Thursday 20 October: Truss leaves
After 44 days, Prime Minister Liz Truss is back on the doorstep of the official residence on Thursday afternoon. After many party members have lost confidence in the prime minister, she announces her departure. She will remain as prime minister until a successor is named.