October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis

October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis

Liz Truss announcing her intention to resign as Conservative leader on 20 October 2022
Date	14–20 October 2022
Cause	September 2022 mini-budget Loss of support from Conservative MPs Confusion over a parliamentary vote to ban fracking
Motive	Pressure Liz Truss to resign Trigger a new Conservative Party leadership election
Participants	Conservative Party MPs
Outcome	Resignations of two holders of the Great Offices of State Resignation of Liz Truss October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election

This article is part of a series about Liz Truss
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In September and October 2022, the Conservative Party government led by newly appointed prime minister Liz Truss faced a credibility crisis. It was caused by the September 2022 mini-budget and a disorganised vote in the House of Commons over a parliamentary vote to ban fracking, ultimately resulting in the loss of support of Conservative members of parliament (MPs).

The mini-budget was a ministerial statement entitled "The Growth Plan" delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, to the House of Commons on 23 September. It was received negatively by global financial markets and ultimately led to the dismissal of Kwarteng on 14 October. In the following days, Truss came under increasing pressure to reverse further elements of the mini-budget to satisfy the markets and, by 17 October, five Conservative MPs had called for her resignation. On 19 October, Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, resigned over a breach of the Ministerial Code following a disagreement with Truss over immigration reform; her resignation letter was critical of the government.

On the evening of 19 October, MPs voted on a Labour Party motion to create time to debate a ban on fracking in the UK, which was opposed by the government. It was unclear whether the vote was being treated as a confidence vote by the government, which confused Conservative MPs. The confusion was compounded by speculation that Wendy Morton and Craig Whittaker, respectively the chief whip and deputy chief whip, had resigned, and by allegations, later refuted, that some Conservative MPs had been manhandled in the division lobby.

Truss resigned as prime minister on 25 October, having announced her intention to do so on 20 October. Rishi Sunak won the ensuing Conservative Party leadership election unopposed to become party leader and prime minister. Truss was in office for 49 days, a shorter duration than the total for any preceding UK prime minister.^[a]
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