Liz Truss defended her idea for lower taxes in the United Kingdom before becoming the shortest-serving British prime minister in history.
In an unrepentant parting address, she exhorted her successor Rishi Sunak to be “brave” in his efforts to stimulate the economy.
She stated that the United Kingdom “cannot afford” for government expenditure to consume a “growing portion of our national income.”
She asserted that “better days are ahead” for the United Kingdom.
Ms. Truss, flanked by her husband and children, stated that she would return to her South West Norfolk electorate as a backbencher.
The King has now formally nominated Mr. Sunak as prime minister, following his victory in the Conservative leadership election.
Ms. Truss announced her departure last week after only 45 days in office after a hurried mini-budget with significant tax cuts caused financial turbulence.
After first defending her agenda, she eventually abandoned nearly all of it to calm markets, but her MPs began to withdraw their support.
In her statement in Downing Street, she was combative, stating, “I am more convinced than ever that we must be courageous and confront the difficulties we face.
“We simply cannot afford to be a low-growth nation in which the government’s portion of our national wealth increases.”
She continued by quoting the Roman philosopher Seneca: “It is not because things are difficult that we lack courage; rather, it is because we lack the courage that they are difficult.”
She also cited her reversal of April’s National Insurance increase and her intention to restrict energy price increases as examples of her short-term achievements.
She also urged Mr. Sunak to maintain British support for Ukraine, stating that the nation “must succeed” in its “brave fight against Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
Her retirement marks the conclusion of a volatile and at times chaotic premiership, which culminated in a series of humiliating policy reversals in its last days.
Only weeks after becoming a power, her first choice for chancellor, her close supporter Kwasi Kwarteng, issued a mini-budget in which he proposed the largest package of tax cuts in half a century.
The plans, which had not been evaluated by the government’s fiscal watchdog, alarmed investors and precipitated a significant increase in the cost of UK government debt.
During her campaign for the Tory leadership, Ms. Truss stated that the UK’s tax burden has stifled economic progress. Initially, she supported her strategy, but she eventually sacked Mr. Kwarteng.
To stabilize the financial markets, his successor as chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, abandoned virtually all of the tax cuts.
Investors applauded the action, but Ms. Truss’ political credibility was severely damaged, and she faced calls from her MPs to resign.
Mr. Sunak, her successor and the third leader of the United Kingdom in seven weeks, must now manage the country through a period of economic turmoil characterized by poor growth and rising inflation.
It is anticipated that he would begin appointing his cabinet later, before Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament.
