Liz Truss has cemented her place in history as Britain’s shortest-ever serving PM. Ms Truss had been in office for just 45 days when she stood outside 10 Downing Street to tell the nation “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party".
She has said that she will remain as Prime Minister until her successor is appointed - which is expected to be within a week. It means she is the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister by some distance. In fact, Ms Truss would have had to remain in office until January 4 to avoid that fate, which has seemed unlikely since she fired her friend Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor after their disastrous “mini-budget” was blamed for trashing the economy.
She takes the title from George Canning, who became Tory Prime Minister in 1827 and lasted for 119 days in Number 10. But Canning was seriously ill from tuberculosis and was forced to quit due to ill health. He died later that year.
His successor, Frederick Robinson - the Viscount Goderich - fared little better, but did at least survive the experience. His tenure as PM lasted just 144 days, hampered by his own ill health and a lack of support from King George IV.
According to some reports, the end of his term came in an interview with the King when he was humiliatingly asked to arrange his own replacement. The meeting literally ended in tears and Goderich became known as “the Blubberer”. In more recent times, Sir Alec Douglas-Home managed to survive a full year and a day before he was ousted in the 1964 election.
Ms Truss meanwhile has been unable to outlast a wilting lettuce that has been live-streamed from the offices of the Daily Star since calls were first made for her to leave office.
