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Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Liz Truss has ended her tenure as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister. Her resignation had seemed inevitable after she fired chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng for announcing a “mini-Budget” that she had herself inspired and advocated, but which had led to a disastrous run on the British currency, put the gilt market in free fall, and spooked investors.
Of late, increasing numbers of her party colleagues were openly calling for her to go, and an Internet joke wondered who among her and a head of lettuce would last longer. The lettuce, the Associated Press announced on Thursday evening, won.
Britain’s shortest-serving PMs
According to a list put out by the AP, these are now the British Prime Ministers who have had the shortest tenures. Cavendish and Petty were Whigs, all the rest are/ were Conservatives/Tories.
* Liz Truss: 45 days (September 6, 2022 to October 20, 2022). But she will stay on in Number 10 until the Conservative Party chooses her successor.
* George Canning: 121 days (April 10, 1827 to August 8, 1827). He died after contracting tuberculosis.
* Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich: 144 days (August 31, 1827 to January 21, 1828). He was replaced.
* Bonar Law: 210 days (October 23, 1922 to May 20, 1923). He resigned due to ill health.
* William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire: 236 days (November 6, 1756 to June 29, 1757). He was replaced.
* William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne: 267 days (July 13, 1782 to April 5, 1783). He was replaced.
Shortest tenures in India
* Gulzarilal Nanda became caretaker Prime Minister twice after Jawaharlal Nehru and his successor Lal Bahadur Shastri died. On both occasions — in May-June 1964 and January 1966 — he served for 13 days each.
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his first stint as Prime Minister lasted 16 days from 16 May-1 June 1996.
* Chaudhary Charan Singh, the second Prime Minister of the Janata Party government, was in the post for 170 days from July 1979 to January 1980.
* Chandra Shekhar was Prime Minister for 223 days from November 1990 to June 1991.
