Tory troubles: A brief timeline of UK political upheavals

Protestors are reflected in a puddle opposite parliament after Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned in London, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Truss resigned Thursday, bowing to the inevitable after a tumultuous, short-lived term in which...Show moreThe Associated Press

LONDON -- It is a British cliché that a week is a long time in politics. Liz Truss proved it true on Thursday when she became the shortest-serving British prime minister in history. In a matter of days, her U-turn on economic plans that made global markets jittery and the resignations of key ministers prompted calls from within Truss' party for her to step down. But the shakeup at the top is hardly an outlier in the recent history of Britain's Conservatives, whose latest troubles have been years in the making.

DAVID CAMERON'S DECISION

Some observers date the current leadership crisis to Conservative Party infighting over the role of the European Union during Cameron's 2010-2016 tenure Britain's leader. The pro-EU prime minister decided to resolve the debate by calling for a nationwide referendum on Britain’s membership in the bloc. With almost 52% voting to leave and 48% to remain, the 2016 referendum resulted in a divisive Brexit. It also led Cameron to resign.

MAY'S BREXIT MANDATE

Theresa May succeeded Cameron as Conservative leader and prime minister on a mandate to “deliver Brexit.” She remained in the job for three years and 11 days, by which time the U.K.'s departure from the Europe Union was still pending. The House of Commons three times rejected the withdrawal agreement May's government negotiated with the EU. It was a tumultuous time mired in frustration in Brussels and discord in Westminster. Following a string of Brexit-related resignations from her government and under pressure from within her party, May ended up resigning.

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