In the last few months, the United Kingdom has undergone much turmoil with the death of her majesty, the Queen, the resignation of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss's 44 days as Prime Minister, and Rishi Sunak becoming the first PM appointed by King Charles III on October 25th, 2022.
Liz Truss became Prime Minister on September 5th, 2022, representing the conservative party following Boris Johnson's resignation, which aims to achieve a “low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.” She later resigned on October 24th, 2022, making her the Prime Minister with the shortest time in power in Britain.
For the ten days Truss was in control, government business was paused due to the Queen's death, making it already a non-ideal situation. However, her downfall came when she, alongside her financial minister Kwasi Kwarteng, decided to cut taxes for the largest corporations and earners without having a way to make up for it. Nearly as soon as this decision was made, the British Pound started devaluating. Soon, the United Kingdom's national bank had to increase the cost of mortgages, which led to soaring high inflation and a rise in the price of living. Liz Truss did all of this on September 23rd, and a few days later, she resigned.
After Sunak’s arrival to the position, representing the conservative party, he plans to provide "stability and unity." He is the third Prime Minister in seven weeks and the first to be of color in history. However, he is enduring “unprecedented challenges: a Conservative Party in chaos, a spiraling economic crisis, war in Europe with no end in sight, and calls for an immediate general election to replace him” (Machinnon, 2022).
The United Kingdom has undergone several critical moments in these past two months, which will all go down as monumental. However, with Rishi Sunak becoming Prime Minister, whether the British Pound will return to what it once was and if "stability and unity" will be attained are matters that will soon be found out.
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