This is the shortest honeymoon of any prime minister in history

Liz Truss enters her administration with two-thirds of the parliamentary party against her, writes Salma Shah

Liz Truss has probably just lost the next election (Reuters)

After years of worshipping the free market, it must have hurt Liz Truss to discover the free market doesn’t love her back. The mini (though obviously maxi) Budget, delivered by her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has left the entire government exposed to ridicule and rage.

She will go into her first Conservative Party conference as PM with a run on sterling, prohibitive interest rates and a stern telling-off from the IMF. Even the economic zealots of the party faithful will have to stop to consider what they’ve unleashed on the world.

This has surely amounted to the shortest honeymoon enjoyed by any prime minister in history; entering her administration with two-thirds of the parliamentary party against her. She actively chose to shut out anyone other than loyalists from her top team and now faces backbenchers with hard-won seats who are as jittery as bond traders.