44 days: What went wrong for Liz Truss

Standing on the steps of Downing Street on 6 September the Prime Minister said that she would grow the economy by cutting taxes, deal with the energy crisis, and fix the NHS.

This month, with only a scaled-back energy bailout for six months to “ride out the storm”, and a reversal of the national insurance hike surviving from her plan, the storm has finally caught up with her.

Backed by less than a third of her colleagues and less than half of the party’s grassroots, Ms Truss was encouraged to bring the Conservative Party together, and repair its reputation in the eyes of the public following the series of scandals which led to the ousting of her predecessor.

Less than two months later, around 100 of her colleagues were thought to have submitted letters of no confidence in her premiership, and public opinion showed she had become the least popular prime minister in the history of polling.

The beginnings of the rift in the party arguably began in the leadership contest which saw brutal briefings from allies and aides of the then-candidate against her rivals.

“A gentle word of advice to the remaining candidates: Smears and attacks may bring short term tactical gain, but always backfire long term,” said the now-Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, as he was knocked out from the race in July.

“The nation is watching, and they’ve had enough of our drama.”

Once she won the leadership, she was urged again to bring the supporters of her rivals into her top team.

Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, Steve Barclay and George Eustice all then found themselves out in the cold.

As the cost of living crisis continued to hit the Prime Minister finally announced that families would be protected for two years under a Government bailout for households.

Almost immediately afterwards, the UK was paralysed by the death of the Queen.

As Britain and much of the world was united in mourning, the economy slowed, and it prompted further warnings over the state of the country’s finances during a delicate global situation.

In this landscape, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng announced billions of pounds in tax cuts, whilst providing no definitive plan on how it would be paid for.

The markets subsequently went into meltdowns, with Tory MPs, the Labour opposition, think-tanks, and economists calling for measures to be dropped, with the Bank of England forced to intervene to keep pensions safe.

The pressure finally came to the fore at Tory conference in Birmingham, where, following attacks from senior Rishi Sunak, she was told by Sir Graham Brady that her cut to the top rate of income tax did not have the party’s support.

The Prime Minister then performed what would be the first of many U-turns following opposition from her own party.

She then sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, her ideological soulmate, closely followed by the entire budget that they had designed together.

Then, following the departure of her Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, party discipline completely collapsed during a vote on fracking on Wednesday night.

MPs were reportedly manhandled into the division lobby to vote alongside the Government, while colleagues screamed at each other, while the Prime Minister was seen chasing after her chief whip who had resigned in despair.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister met with Sir Graham Brady to take the mood of the party, and, upon being told, decided to jump ship and resgin.