Why is Prime Minister Liz Truss under pressure?

The PM has had a difficult few weeks which included sacking her friend Kwasi Kwarteng

Prime Minister Liz Truss has only been in the job for a few weeks but she's already under quite a lot of pressure.

It's all because of events that have taken place over the last few weeks. which have raised questions about her leadership.

Ms Truss has been in the top position since 6 September 2022, but some of the government's actions under her guidance have already drawn lots of criticism.

It led the prime minister to sack her former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday last week, just 38 days after he was first appointed to the role.

Now some of the MPs on her own team are now calling for the prime minister to resign.

So how did things get to this point? Read on to find out more.

Money problems

The former chancellor was forced to step down from his role on Friday 14 October

One of the biggest issues for the prime minister is all about money.

After becoming the UK's new leader, Liz Truss formed her new government which is made of MPs picked by the PM to take on some of the big jobs. This included Kwasi Kwarteng who was hired as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer.

This is a really important role as the chancellor is the person who makes big decisions about how the UK's money is spent, and how finances are raised through taxes and borrowing.

On the 23 September, the chancellor set out what the government had planned when it came to its spending over the next few months. This became known as the mini-budget and contained some big changes.

However, her announcements were followed by lots of financial problems for the UK, with the value of the pound falling.

Although many of these plans were things that Liz Truss had always said she'd do, some critics said they were the wrong plans, and others said that not enough work had been done to explain how they would work and the impact they would have.

Chancellor problems

Jeremy Hunt has been appointed as the new chancellor

After facing lots of backlash from both opposition parties and her own party members, Liz Truss had some big decisions to make about the financial plans the government had previously said it'd be introducing.

The criticisms and uncertainties forced the government to go back on some of Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng's plans and on 14 October, Ms Truss told her close friend and long-time colleague he'd have to step down from his job as chancellor.

Former leadership contender Jeremy Hunt was made the new chancellor and he has responded by scrapping almost all of the measures in that original mini-budget.

One of the big difficulties facing Ms Truss is that the mini-budget did what she had promised to do when she was trying to get elected - it was her plan too.

Allowing Mr Hunt to rip up those plans and start again has led to people saying she's lost much of her authority.

At a press conference when she announced a change of direction, journalists pointed out that the original plan was both her and Mr Kwarteng's big idea - so they asked why she had kept her job while he had lost his.

MP problems

Lots of MPs wanted Rishi Sunak to become the next prime minister over Liz Truss

Liz Truss was chosen to replace former prime minister Boris Johnson after winning the leadership race for the top position.

She was voted for by members of the Conservative Party, who are are people who have signed up to be official supporters of the party, including members of the public.

Ms Truss won by more than 20,000 votes over her opponent Rishi Sunak, who was the chancellor under Boris Johnson's government.

However, although she had the support of party members across the UK, more MPs within her own party supported Mr Sunak.

This means she still has some work to do to convince her team that she's the best person to have in charge.

What has been said?

Not everyone was happy about Liz Truss' appointment as the new PM

Some Conservative MPs have questions about Ms Truss' leadership, even suggesting she may not survive for much longer as the PM.

The new chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said Liz Truss is still in charge even though she's gone back on some of her government's financial plans.

However, this hasn't stopped people criticising her actions, and some members of her own party have shared their concerns publicly.

Former minister Crispin Blunt said "the game is up" for Ms Truss and it was only a question now of "how the succession is managed".

"We cannot carry on like this. Our country, its people and our party deserve better," Andrew Bridgen MP told the Telegraph newspaper.

Several Tory MPs including Andrew Bridgen have publicly criticised Liz Truss

There has also been criticism from the Labour party, with Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves saying big changes are needed after the government "plunged our economy into chaos and crisis."

Some in her party have been calling for a General Election, as has Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey .

"It started with Boris Johnson failing our country, and now Liz Truss has broken our economy, it is time for the people to have their say in a general election," Mr Davey said.

However, while there are Tory MPs who would like to see their current leader step down, Liz Truss is still being backed by some key people.

Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey - a close ally of Ms Truss - said the PM was right to appoint Mr Hunt "to act now to ensure our country's economic stability" while Penny Mordaunt - a member of Liz Truss' top team - said it was time for her party to get behind the PM: "Britain needs stability, not a soap opera."