UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after failed budget and market turmoil
Prime Minister Liz Truss announces her resignation at 10 Downing Street on October 20, 2022 in London, England.
Leon Neal | Getty Images
LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday following a failed tax-cutting budget that rocked financial markets and which led to a revolt within her own Conservative Party.
Truss was in office for just 44 days, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. For 10 days of her premiership government business was paused following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
She said in a statement outside Downing Street, “We set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.”
“I recognize though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to announce that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”
The party is now due to complete a leadership election within the next week, much faster than this summer’s two-month period. Graham Brady, the Conservative politician who is in charge of leadership votes and reshuffles, told reporters he was now looking at how the vote could include Conservative MPs and the wider party members.
Her resignation came after a meeting with Brady, who chairs the 1922 Committee — the group of Conservative MPs without ministerial positions who can submit letters of no confidence in the prime minister. Just before the meeting, a Downing Street spokesperson told reporters Truss wanted to stay in office.
During the hour the meeting lasted, the number of MPs publicly calling for Truss to step down reached 17. The number who had written letters to Brady expressing no confidence in the prime minister was reported to be more than 100 by Thursday.
The pound was up 1% on the day against the dollar at 3:00 p.m., trading at $1.1214. It remains at the level it was on Sept. 22, before Truss’ market-moving budget. The yields on 30-year, 10-year and five-year gilts (U.K. sovereign bonds) were all lower after Truss’ brief speech.
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Opposition parties Labour, the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats called for an immediate general election on Thursday afternoon. Labour leader Keir Starmer said, “The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern.”
Controversial ‘mini-budget’
On Sept. 23, Truss’ finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced a so-called mini-budget which began a turbulent period for U.K. bond markets which balked at the debt-funded tax cuts he put forward. Most of the policies were reversed three weeks later by the second finance minister, Jeremy Hunt.
Truss beat Rishi Sunak to become leader of the Conservative Party following the resignation of Boris Johnson on July 7. Sunak is now one of the favorites to succeed Truss, along with Hunt, another leadership contender Penny Mordaunt, Defense Minister Ben Wallace and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The resignation leaves the status of the Conservatives’ expected budget update on Oct. 31 uncertain, but Truss said the leadership handover would “ensure we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans.”
In her statement, Truss suggested the legacies of her brief tenure were supporting households with energy bills and cutting the rate of national insurance, a general taxation in Britain. The cut was one of very few measures of the “mini budget” to remain; while the energy support package, which was initially set to run for two years, was cut to six months.
She also said the U.K. had “continued to stand with Ukraine and to protect our own security.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said in response to the news: “The United States and the United Kingdom are strong Allies and enduring friends — and that fact will never change.”
“I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine … We will continue our close cooperation with the U.K. government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face.”
Regaining trust
Paul Dales, chief U.K. economist at Capital Economics, said the new PM would need to do more to regain the trust of financial markets.
“In just a few weeks fiscal policy has swung from being ultra loose, to less loose to outright tight,” he said in a note.
“Overall, the resignation of Truss is a step that needed to happen for the UK government to move further along the path towards restoring credibility in the eyes of the financial markets. But more needs to be done and the new Prime Minister and their Chancellor have a big task to navigate the economy through the cost of living crisis, cost of borrowing crisis and the cost of credibility crisis.”
Think tank Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a report on the U.K. Thursday: “A drawn-out recession lies ahead, now that overseas investors have lost faith in policymakers, forcing the [Monetary Policy Committee] to hike Bank Rate quickly and the government to tighten fiscal policy.”
The U.K. economy was already weakening before the “calamitous” mini-budget, the authors wrote. Looking forward, the nation faces a likely pullback in consumer spending, squeeze in households’ disposable incomes, lower employment, and higher interest rates “snuffing out” recovery in business investment, Pantheon added.
A judge has officially approved a settlement in a case brought by Tesla shareholders against board members who will now have to return stock, cash, and give up on stock options worth a total of nearly $1 billion.
Let me start this article with a quote from Tesla CEO Elon Musk:
Tesla will never settle a case where we’re in the right, and never contest a case where we’re in the wrong.
Today, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick approved a settlement agreement between Tesla and all its board members from 2017 to 2020 and the Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit on behalf of Tesla shareholders over what the shareholders believed to be excessive compensation.
The agreement was first reported in July 2023, but it is only now being officially approved and we learn a few more details.
Shareholders believed that members of Tesla’s board were compensating themselves excessively with hundreds of millions of dollars between 2017 and 2020 when the average compensation of a board member of a S&P500 company is just north of $300,000.
Under the settlement, the board members agree to return to Tesla $277 million in cash, $459 million in stock options and to forgo $184 million worth of stock options awarded for 2021-2023.
That adds up to nearly $1 billion.
The board members include Kimbal Musk, Elon’s brother, Brad Buss, Ira Ehrenpreis, Antonio Gracias, Stephen Jurvetson, all close friends of Elon Musk and people who have financial dealings with Musk outside of Tesla, Linda Johnson Rice, Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, Hiromichi Mizuno and Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle Corp and also a close friend of Musk.
As part of the settlement, Tesla or the board does not admit to any wrongdoing.
Musk didn’t take compensation as part of the board, but he is embroiled in a similar case over his own $55 billion CEO compensation package, which was rescinded by the same judge after she found that it wasn’t negotiated or presented to shareholders in good faith.
The board members who received this “excessive compensation” also happened to be the one who “negotiated” Musk’s CEO compensation package.
The case is heading to the Delaware Supreme Court, as reported earlier today.
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Environment
Nissan’s Ariya electric SUV takes on the extreme weather in its new test chamber [Video]
![Nissan's Ariya electric SUV takes on the extreme weather in its new test chamber [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/07/Nissan-first-Tesla-NACS-Japan.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Despite how cold it may feel outside, Nissan’s electric SUV has likely been through colder. Nissan is proving its Ariya SUV can handle the extreme weather at its unique new test chamber at its tech center near Detroit. With temperatures ranging from -40 to 176 °F, the Ariya is being pushed to see what it’s made of.
Nissan launched the Ariya, its first electric SUV, in the US in late 2022. Over 13,400 Ariya models were sold in the US in its first sales year, with another nearly 20,000 handed over in 2024.
A few weeks ago, Nissan introduced the 2025 Ariya, starting at just $39,770. It has two battery options, 66 or 91 kWh, good for 216 and 289 miles range. That’s for the FWD models.
You can opt for Nissan’s e-4ORCE AWD dual-motor system for “thrilling acceleration” with up to 389 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque. However, with the added power, you sacrifice some range. The AWD Ariya gets up to 272 miles range.
With many parts of the country seeing frigid temperatures, Nissan says its “Ariya is very well equipped” to combat freezing weather.
The electric SUV was already the first vehicle (EV or gas-powered) to drive from the North to the South Pole in 2023. Now, it’s being put through the paces at Nissan’s tech center outside of Detroit.
It’s currently around 23 °F in Detroit, with a low of 11 °F, but Nissan says it’s even colder in its unique new test chamber. The chamber is located at the Nissan Technical Center North America campus, just outside Detroit.
Nissan Ariya handles cold weather tests in new chamber
“Our chambers are capable of temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 176 degrees Fahrenheit,” Jeff Tessmer, senior manager of Zero Emission Vehicles at Nissan’s tech center, explained.
Nissan tests the Ariya in a test chamber with “far more extreme” temperatures than the typical driver will see. Tessmer said, “We want to test the worst-case scenario so that our customers will still get the same performance in a wide variety of weather conditions.”
One of the biggest goals is to prove the electric SUV’s battery can maintain charge levels even in extreme weather.
Nissan puts it through “cold soak” tests to ensure performance. During a 24-hour cold soak, the Ariya was parked in -4 °F weather with a 17% battery charge. It also wasn’t plugged in or using its battery heater. After the team returned the next day, the electric SUV still had a 17% charge and started up immediately.
The Ariya is equipped with a battery heater that drivers can turn on ahead of time to ensure optimal performance. On hot days, it includes a liquid-cooled system to regulate battery temperatures.
Drivers can also use the MYNISSAN app to pre-warm the cabin, check the interior temperature, and schedule charging times. Ansu Jammeh, an engineer on Nissan’s Zero Emissions Engineering team, said the best time to use the heating feature is “when the vehicle is plugged in so that it uses power from the grid instead of the vehicle.”
| 2025 Nissan Ariya trim | Battery (kWh) |
Starting Prices* (MSRP) | Range (miles) |
| Engage FWD | 66 | $39,770 | 216 |
| Engage e-4ORCE | 66 | $43,770 | 205 |
| Evolve + FWD | 91 | $44,370 | 289 |
| Engage + e-4ORCE | 91 | $45,370 | 272 |
| Evolve + e-4ORCE | 91 | $48,370 | 272 |
| Platinum + e-4ORCE | 91 | $54,370 | 267 |
Nissan added a new wireless charging pad across all 2025 Ariya models. The inside features Nissan’s Advanced Drive-Assist setup with dual 12.3″ infotainment and driver display screens formed in a “wave-like” shape.
Other standard features of the 2025 model include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support, a Head-up display, and a Virtual Personal Assistant. It also includes Nissan’s ProPilot Assist for assisted driving.
Are you ready to check out Nissan’s electric SUV for yourself? We can help you get started. You can use our link to find Nissan Ariya models at the best price in your area today.
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Florida’s Rice Creek Solar Energy Center is now online, delivering nearly 75 megawatts (MW) of clean electricity to 12 cities across the state. The solar farm is part of the Florida Municipal Solar Project, one of the largest municipal solar initiatives in the US.
Located in Putnam County, near Palatka, the Rice Creek site is covered with 213,000 solar panels that generate enough power for around 14,000 homes. This marks the third solar site in the Florida Municipal Solar Project, with more on the way.
Twelve utilities are tapping into the clean energy from Rice Creek, including Beaches Energy Services (Jacksonville Beach), Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, Homestead, Keys Energy Services in Key West, Kissimmee Utility Authority, Lake Worth Beach, Mount Dora, New Smyrna Beach Utilities, Newberry, Ocala, Town of Havana, and Winter Park. This is the first solar power project for Havana, New Smyrna Beach, and Newberry.
Jacob Williams, the general manager of the Florida Municipal Power Agency, explained, “By working together, our members and their communities benefit from additional solar-powered energy that’s both cost-effective and carbon-free.”
The FMPA, based in Orlando, coordinates the project, while the 12 municipal utilities – who are also FMPA’s member-owners – purchase the power. Miami-based Origis Energy is the builder, owner, and operator of Rice Creek. According to Origis Energy’s Josh Teigiser, “We are honored to support this FMPA work. Long-term agreements for solar generation, including for Rice Creek Solar, provide a stable rate base contributing to lower and more predictable customers’ bills.”
Construction is already underway on a fourth Florida solar farm, Whistling Duck Solar, in Levy County. The Florida Municipal Solar Project is expected to grow to seven sites in the next few years and will generate a total of around 525 MW of clean energy.
Read more: Ohio’s largest solar farm just came online
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
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