In September and October 2022, the Conservative Party government led by newly-appointed prime minister, Liz Truss, faced a credibility crisis. It was caused by the September 2022 mini-budget, loss of support from Conservative members of parliament (MPs), and a disorganised vote in the House of Commons. The mini-budget was a Ministerial Statement entitled “The Growth Plan” that was delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, to the House of Commons on 23 September.] It was received negatively by the world financial markets and ultimately led to the dismissal of Kwarteng on 14 October. In the following days, Truss came under increasing pressure to reverse further elements of the mini-budget to satisfy the markets and, by 17 October, five Conservative MPs had called for her resignation. On 19 October, Suella Braverman, the home secretary, resigned over a technical breach of the Ministerial Code following a disagreement with Truss over immigration reform; her resignation letter was critical of the government. On the evening of 19 October, MPs voted on a Labour Party motion to create time to debate a ban on fracking in the UK, which was opposed by the government. It was unclear whether the vote was being treated as a confidence vote by the government, which confused Conservative MPs. The confusion was compounded by speculation that Wendy Morton and Craig Whittaker, respectively the chief whip and deputy chief whip, had resigned, and by allegations which were later undermined that some Conservative MPs had been manhandled in the division lobby.

Truss resigned as prime minister on 25 October, having announced her intention to do so on 20 October. Rishi Sunak won the October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election to become party leader and prime minister. Truss was in office for 50 days, meaning her total time in office is the shortest of any UK prime minister.