Seven crucial mistakes Liz Truss made that saw PM forced out after just 44 days – and the final nail in her coffin
LIZ Truss has thrown in the towel after 44 days of carnage that climaxed in a groundswell of calls for her to quit.
The departing Tory leader is the shortest-serving PM in British history - but presided over one of the most tumultuous periods in recent memory.
Six weeks of self-inflicted blunders left Conservative MPs in despair and sharpen their knives to oust her.
Her disastrous mini-Budget was the watershed moment that sent the markets into meltdown and forced her to dump her Chancellor.
But the final nail in the coffin came last night in a highly-charged Commons showdown that the government in freefall.
Here is a look at the biggest mistakes Ms Truss made.
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Mini-Budget
After the period of national mourning for the Queen, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng shocked Britain and beyond by unleashing the biggest set of tax cuts in more than 50 years.
Their extraordinary “mini-Budget” reversed the National Insurance rise, scrapped the rise in Corporation Tax, cut stamp duty and abolished the 45p top rate of income tax.
And when Mr Kwarteng declared that was “just the start”, the markets spooked and went into meltdown.
The pound tanked and the cost of government borrowing surged, bringing the pensions industry on the edge of collapse.
First u-turn
Fearing a huge rebellion, Ms Truss executed her first u-turn by abandoning her pledge to abolish the 45p rate of tax.
In a move first revealed by The Sun, she hauled in her Chancellor for late night talks at Tory conference telling him to drop the controversial policy.
The climbdown immediately weakened her authority as the mutineers smelled blood and began agitating for more of the mini-Budget to be jettisoned.
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Cabinet row on benefits
The same conference in Birmingham saw a spectacular breakdown in Cabinet discipline that tore a strip off the PM’s authority.
As Ms Truss refused to commit that benefits would rise with inflation, her top team descended into open warfare.
Penny Mordaunt insisted that benefits should go up with prices, only to be immediately contradicted by then Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Ms Truss’ failure to get a grip on her misbehaving Cabinet had rebels casting doubt on her future.
Kwasi sacked
As the markets continued to death-spiral and more mini-Budget u-turns were being prepared, Ms Truss took the brutal decision to dump her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
In his place she installed arch-Rishi supporter Jeremy Hunt who effectively took control of her government’s financial direction.
That night Ms Truss gave a dire press conference that failed to convince her wavering MPs.
Tax cuts in tatters
Days later Mr Hunt tore the heart out of her mini-Budget after ditching almost all of its key planks.
In a bid to soothe weeks of market turmoil, only cuts to National Insurance and Stamp Duty remained from Truss and ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s package unveiled just 24 days ago.
The broken PM sat in silence flanking her Chancellor as the plans were announced to Parliament, with a repetitive blink her only outward display of emotion.
Suella sacked
Ms Truss sensationally sacked Suella Braverman for mistakenly leaking confidential government information from a private email.
But far from going quietly, the axed Home Secretary took a stinging attack on her leadership, stressing serious concerns about the direction of her government.
Commons fury
An extraordinary night in the Commons saw chaos as Tory MPs were in tears with allegations they were being manhandled by party whips.
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Chief Whip Wendy Morton threatened to resign - and then un-resigned in a chaotic few hours.
Ms Truss was ashen-faced as she saw her authority drain away and more Tory MPs break cover calling for her to quit.