Liz Truss’ resignation leaves party in tatters and nation worried

Even by today’s standards, Thursday was a jaw-dropping British politics.

Liz Truss, a Brexit advocate who took over from Boris Johnson just six weeks ago, he announced he was stepping down. In her departure, she leaves an economic crisis precipitated by a “plan of growth” full of unfunded tax cuts, and a Conservative who may be in office but certainly doesn’t do much power.

It’s hard to say what impact Truss’ rise to office had on British politics in such a short time. His radical policy proposals economy — even before they were enacted — made the pound plummeted to its lowest value against the dollar in decades.

The turmoil caused government bonds to rise, which had a negative impact on government borrowing and, even worse, on investment funds. citizens’ pension. The rise in interest rates forced the repayment of mortgages, and lenders rushed to withdraw their products from the market, dashing the hopes of potential homeowners from the night to the day.

Faced with the fury of his own party — for which fiscal discipline was, for a long time, a watchword—Truss surrendered. she fired her finance minister, lost its interior minister and created even more divisions in a party that has been falling apart since the referendum on Brexit in 2016.

It was only a matter of time before she was forced out. Politicians of all stripes are asking the same question as much of the country: what now?

What we do know for sure is that the UK will have a new Prime Minister.minister until the end of next week. This person will be chosen, more once, by the Conservative Party—its members of parliament and its grassroots members — rather than by the general public. It is a reality that angered the opposition Labor Party, which demands general elections.

This will not happen. Polls on the Conservative Party are at a record low, and as the election date is set by the government, he won’t make more trouble for himself.

In this way, the party will drag itself through another election to choose its leader and a second prime minister in a few months. at least it will be fast: party leaders want it all done by the end of the next week.

Now, who it will be is a mystery. Allies of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson have informed CNN that he’s considering what would be an amazing comebackdespite having shamefully renounced only a few months ago.

Although people close to Johnson claim he is the only candidate capable of uniting a bitterly divided party, others retort by saying that there were reasons why he had been forced to step down.

For those who don’t remember, these reasons were the various scandals (from breaking the rules of social isolation due to Covid-19 to the promotion given to an ally accused of sexual abuse) who made their position as leader of the United Kingdom is simply untenable.

Consensus candidates?

Former allies who stopped supporting Johnson after things went too far they say naming him would make conservatives exposed to a frank line of attack: why would this person who proved totally unfit for the post is suddenly considered the better to lead the country?

Both conservatives who fear a Johnson return and representatives of the opposition Labor Party emphasized the CNN what Johnson is also under investigation into whether he lied to the Parliament on the so-called Partygate scandal.

There are other options for consensus candidates. Penny is believed to Mordaunt, one of Truss’s ministers, is considering running for office. She is a supporter of Brexit, popular across the party, and considered a sensible moderate who would take a more calm in the lead.

She openly criticized Truss while she was in his government, saying he wanted to see pension payments increase in line with inflation at a time of high tension in the party, which would have won praise from Truss’s critics.

There is also Rishi Sunak, the former finance minister, whose resignation was cconsidered the catalyst for Johnson’s downfall. He was the last rival of Truss in the race for leadership and is detested by supporters of Johnson, then his purview would be unpopular in much of the broken.

And being popular with the party—both to members of parliament and base – it will be fundamental for whoever takes the position. disagreements above all, from Brexit to fiscal policy, have transformed the party with great parliamentary majority in virtually ungovernable.

Leaving aside the personal dislike that people may feel for Johnson, Truss or Sunak, the feeling that the Conservative Party is a indomitable animal marching from crisis to crisis created the impression that he is in terminal decline.

Conservative members of parliament and representatives are totally discouraged. If we compare Truss’ resignation with that of Johnson, just a few weeks earlier, there were no deputies on the streets, or rows of smiling supporters. It was a cold speech for a Downing empty street.

A large number of Conservative MPs think the party does not has no hope of winning the next general election. It is like calling a general election is in the hands of the government, that means if cling to power as much as possible, in the vague hope that things get better.

In just a few weeks, the Labor Party went from believing in itself as an optimistic future government, to be furious, as the Conservatives are willing to appoint another leader without a mandate, depriving the public of a stable government.

That is the state of British politics today. The current government will not convene a general election. A generous analysis might say that this happens because the government believes that the country needs stability in a hard moment.

Another, more cynical one, might say that they are terrified at the prospect of the size of their electoral defeat.

The situation will become clearer in the next 48 hours as the candidates come forward and the process for a smooth transition is outlined. However, if the last year of British politics is any reference, the election of a new prime minister will be accompanied by disgusting statements and dirty policies, something we end up getting used to.

The truth is that the animals of British politics are likely will continue to aim at rivals’ jugular for the foreseeable future. And given the state country, this is bad news for its citizens.