comment

Liz Truss’s honours list proves once again she is a politician without judgement

The former prime minister’s 49 days in office ended in such failure that her personal nominations to the peerage should not apply, writes John Rentoul

Friday 29 December 2023 22:32
Comments
<p>Liz Truss, the Lady Jane Grey of British prime ministers</p>

Liz Truss, the Lady Jane Grey of British prime ministers

Liz Truss was prime minister for a shorter time than George Canning, the holder of the previous record for brevity of service. And he died in office, so her 49 days should be compared not with his 119 days, but possibly with the 144 days served by his successor Viscount Goderich.

Goderich was a weak leader who confessed to King George IV “how deeply he feels his own inadequacy to discharge the duties of the situation”. The king interpreted this as a resignation and appointed the Duke of Wellington instead.

Truss’s failure was even more humiliating. Her elevation was the first test of the principle that a prime minister could be chosen by party members outside parliament and imposed on MPs who would have chosen differently. Labour came close to breaching this constitutional principle when Theresa May nearly lost to Jeremy Corbyn in 2017, but it was the Conservative Party that finally tried it out – to vividly destructive effect.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in