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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Elly Rewcastle

Who is the shortest-serving UK Prime Minister following the resignation of Liz Truss?

Liz Truss has become Britain's shortest-serving prime minister after stepping down this afternoon. The Conservative party leader took the helm from her predecessor Boris Johnson at the beginning of September and after just 44 days in office, she has been shown the door.

The UK has been led by a Prime Minister for more than 300 years and has seen 55 people take on the prestigious title. In the past 12 years alone, we've had four different prime ministers.

For many MPs, the job of prime minister is a childhood ambition, but the role isn't always the gift it appears. What about the other prime ministers who didn't stick the job for long?

Read more: LIVE: Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister - latest updates

1. George Canning - 119 days

Before Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in history falls to George Canning. The Conservative leader remained in power for just 199 days in 1827 before passing away at the age of 57.

2. Sir Alec Douglas-Home - 1 year, 1 day

Sir Alec managed to make it to his one-year anniversary after taking over from Harold Macmillan in the 1960s. Unfortunately, it wasn't to last and he was ousted at the next general election, making way for the pipe-smoking Harold Wilson.

3. Sir Anthony Eden - 1 year, 279 days

Sir Anthony took over the Conservative Party from Winston Churchill in the 1950s and became the late Queen Elizabeth II's second-ever prime minister. He stepped down in 1957 stating ill health for his departure, though Parliament believed that his exit was because he misled them over his collusion with France and Israel.

4. Gordon Brown - 2 years, 318 days

After taking the helm from Labour's Tony Blair, who led the party for more than 10 years, Gordon Brown did not charm his way into the public's heart. Brown had the unfortunate job of being in power during the financial crash and struggled to fight back from that, losing to David Cameron in the 2010 general election.

5. Neville Chamberlain - 2 years, 348 days

Chamberlain was the prime minister that returned from peace talks with Adolf Hitler and declared "I believe it is peace for our time" in September 1938. How very wrong he was and following the outbreak of war, didn't last much longer.

6. Theresa May - 3 years, 11 days

After David Cameron jumped ship following the result of the Brexit referendum, Theresa May stepped up to the plate. She took on a near-impossible task of trying to orchestrate a deal that everyone could agree on, and when she resigned after narrowly beating a vote of no confidence, the government still couldn't agree on a deal.

7. Jim Callaghan - 3 years, 29 days

When Callaghan was prime minister, he was fighting against the rising popularity of one Mrs Margaret Thatcher. Callaghan had to contend with record unemployment rates and huge levels of discontent, making it an easy win for his opponent when she came to power in 1979.

8. Boris Johnson - 3 years, 44 days

Another prime minister from the modern era, Boris Johnson's career in Downing Street has seen many controversies. Despite winning a landslide election off the back of a successful Brexit campaign. Johnson's divisive nature meant that often his own party couldn't agree.

In the end, Johnson's government collapsed under a series of scandals, including breaking his own lockdown rules and being investigated by the police and appointing a man accused of sexual misconduct as the deputy chief whip. He clung on for as long as he could but ultimately had to pass the torch to Truss.

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