Forty-five days Liz Truss has lasted in Downing Street, less than any of her predecessors and a record that she surely would like to have avoided. She has become the British equivalent of the Bourbon king Luis I El Breve, eldest son of Felipe V and María Luisa de Saboya, who only remained on the Spanish throne for 229 days. In any case more than her.
Truss La Breve should have expected it because she made the announcement at 1:30 p.m. sharp, in a gray, autumnal and rainy London, with an extraordinary coldness, like someone announcing that she has bought a new washing machine. “I have lost the confidence of the Conservative Party and I resign from the leadership. I will remain in office until a new leader is elected in a week's time."
Truss's situation was unsustainable since the markets de facto intervened in the country and imposed Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor of the Exchequer to dismantle the entire program of government tax increases.
But the outcome could be seen coming since yesterday, with the resignation of the Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman, the disappearance of any hint of discipline in the Tory ranks and chaotic scenes in a vote on fracking. Fifteen deputies had publicly called for the resignation of their leader.
Events were precipitated and Truss summoned figures from the Conservative Party this morning in Downing Street to request a medical report. The diagnosis left no room for doubt. There were no chances of survival. The relatives were informed that the patient did not have hours but days left, and it was time to disconnect the artificial respirator.
King Louis was also known as "the liberal" and the "well-beloved." Liz Truss has been a not very loved ultra-liberal who will go down in history as Elizabeth the Brief.
