Liz Truss, former Prime Minister of Britain, resigned after just 44 days on October 25. Her tenure is the shortest in British history, failing to outlast a head of lettuce. The previous record holder for the shortest-serving prime minister was George Canning, lasting 119 days before he collapsed and died. 

Truss replaced Boris Johnson after the Conservative Party forced him to step down after a number of scandals surrounding COVID-19 and the departure of Chris Pincher.

Her plans for tax cuts, deregulation, and borrowing alarmed global investors so much that the value of the British pound sank to the weakest level against the US dollar; British currency dropped to $1.035.

However, everything came undone as her economic plan for the country made things worse for the already struggling nation. In Britain, energy bills were predicted to jump 80 percent this month and jump again in January, putting many Britons in a position where they can not heat up or power their homes.

In a fight to maintain her spot, she fired many people, including the former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.

“We will reverse almost all the tax measures announced in the growth plan three weeks ago,” new finance minister Jeremy Hunt said.

But by the time she attempted to undo the damage she had done, Conservative lawmakers refused to give Truss the support she needed to continue on. As a result, she resigned.

Rishi Sunak was chosen to be the new prime minister, the first person of color and the first Hindu to serve as prime minister in UK history. He vowed to fix the mistakes of Truss, emphasizing stability.

“It is the greatest privilege of my life, to be able to serve the party I love and give back to the country I owe so much to,” Sunak said in his first speech after being chosen to lead. 

Though it is a monumental thing that Britain has elected its first person of color and the first Hindu to serve, Sunak’s worth is almost $850 million; this has left him open to criticism regarding whether or not he is in touch with the working class. As the country struggles economically, his background could make his job even more difficult.

“He doesn’t seem to understand that people are working full-time, doing the best they can, and literally still cannot make ends meet,” New Economics Foundation head of economics Jeevun Sandher said.

The problems Sunak faces include a Conservative Party in chaos, a spiraling economic crisis, a war in Europe, and calls for an immediate general election to replace him, but questions surrounding whether or not he can stabilize the economy are at the forefront.