The 5 shortest-serving UK prime ministers in fashionable historical past – may Liz Truss steal the crown?

She’s been within the job for lower than a month and havoc has been wreaked on the financial system. Her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s controversial mini funds has been blasted as fiscally irresponsible. The housing market has been despatched into chaos with surging rates of interest, the pound fell to its lowest worth in 35 years, and fears of a fresh round of austerity have raised alarm in Whitehall.

With Labour surging to a record lead in the polls, it’s not shocking ‘no confidence letters’ are being despatched from Tory MPs, hoping to set off one more management contest.

However even earlier than the financial turmoil was sparked by the chancellor’s £45bn tax giveaway gamble, the bookies didn’t assume Truss would have endurance at No 10.

May or not it’s that Liz Truss turns into the shortest-serving UK prime minister in fashionable historical past?

We check out what Truss is up towards, the PMs who at the moment maintain the document of getting the briefest phrases in workplace.

Sir Alec Douglas-Residence – Tory PM from 1963 to 1964 (a yr and a day)

Conservative Sir Douglas-Residence at the moment holds the crown because the UK’s shortest-serving PM in latest historical past. Douglas-Residence grew to become prime minister following the resignation of Harold Macmillan throughout a Tory Get together disaster. Pitting towards commerce unions and with an aristocratic background, Douglas-Residence was deemed old style and out of contact and misplaced within the 1964 election to Harold Wilson.

Sir Anthony Eden – Tory PM from 1955 to 1957 (1 yr and 279 days)

The Tory PM Sir Anthony Eden resigned because of ailing well being in 1957 after lower than two years within the job. It’s extensively believed that his controversial resolution to make use of armed intervention within the Suez disaster marked the beginning of his demise.

Gordon Brown – Labour PM from 2007 to 2010 (2 years and 318 days)

The previous chancellor took over from Tony Blair in 2007. Throughout his time in workplace, Brown oversaw the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the devolution of powers in Northern Eire, and the world’s first ever Local weather Change Act. But he was defeated by David Cameron within the 2010 normal election.

Neville Chamberlain – Tory PM from 1937 to 1940 (2 years and 348 days)

Chamberlain is remembered for his assist for the coverage of appeasement in direction of Adolf Hitler over the annexation of Czechoslovakia and the signing Munich Settlement on 29 September 1938.  Lower than a yr after Chamberlain delivered his “Peace with Honour – Peace for Our Time” speech, Britain had entered the struggle following the invasion of Poland by German forces.

Theresa Could – Tory PM from 2016 to 2019 (3 years and 11 days)

Stepping up after David Cameron jumped ship following the Brexit referendum, Theresa Could’s time in workplace was brief however not candy. After simply over three years within the prime job and various Brexit deal defeats in Parliament, she suffered a catastrophic lack of confidence amongst MPs and cupboard minister and introduced her resignation in 2019.

With prime economists, opposition events, foreign money markets and various Tory MPs reacting to Truss and Kwarteng’s borrowing-fuelled tax minimize spree in dismay, the humiliation of being the shortest serving PM in fashionable historical past may nicely be on the playing cards for Liz Truss.

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Ahead

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