Six weeks ago, Liz Truss strode to the stage as the United Kingdom’s new prime minister, promising a “bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy”.

Three and a half weeks ago, she delivered that plan — £45 billion in unfunded tax cuts, which sent the pound plummeting to record lows and markets into chaos.

Markets reacted positively to Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s move overnight, in just his fourth day in the job, to scrap cuts to the dividend and basic income taxes, while putting a time limit on a wide-ranging energy price guarantee and signalling spending cuts.

But it did nothing to cut shouts from Labour and a slowly swelling number of Tory backbenchers to get rid of Truss.

So what’s next for the woman who was voted in to provide stability after the tumultuous Boris Johnson years but now faces the possibility of becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in British history? 

To put it simply, the political program that brought Truss to power is essentially gone. 

The sweeping tax cuts were her main point of difference against Rishi Sunak as she argued lower taxes would provide a sustained boost to the UK economy.

The plan, which spawned the terms “Trussonomics” and “growing the pie”, included cuts to the basic tax rate, corporate tax rate and a big tax break for the richest Britons.

Nicholas Barr, a Professor of Public Economics at the London School of Economics’ European Institute, argued tax cuts would fail to generate higher growth if important factors such as time, public investment, and coordination of large-scale changes weren’t considered.

“Other countries, including France, Germany, and Canada have higher taxation than the UK, but also higher productivity, faster growth and less inequality.”

The International Monetary Fund warned the moves could worsen inflation and the cost of living crisis. The Bank of England eventually intervened to stabilise financial markets in the face of what it called a “material risk to UK financial stability”.

In the following weeks, Truss performed something of a three-point U-turn, starting by scrapping the most controversial aspect of her plan, a reduction in taxes for those earning more than £150,000 ($271,000) from 45 per cent to 40 per cent.

On Friday, she went further, sacking her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, who helped design the sweeping plan, and ditching the corporate tax cuts.

The historic U-turn was completed on Monday when Hunt scrapped “almost all” of the remaining financial measures, calming markets but sending Downing Street into a fervour of political speculation.

“It is a deeply held Conservative value — a value that I share — that people should keep more of the money that they earn,” Hunt said.

“But at a time when markets are rightly demanding commitments to sustainable public finances, it is not right to borrow to fund this tax cut.”

Who wants Truss to leave?

By Monday afternoon, four Tory MPs — Crispin Blunt, Andrew Bridgen, Jamie Wallis and Angela Richardson — had joined the opposition’s calls for Truss to step aside. 

“If your confidence levels as a prime minister are in single figures, the position is frankly irretrievable,” Blunt told the BBC.

“And we don’t have time, between now, over the next few years to waste in seeing if we can repair Liz as our prime minister and as our party leader so that she could command the confidence of the public.

“We need to make a change.”

Labour Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden said the fiscal U-turn was a “complete humiliation” for Truss.

“The platform upon which she fought and won the conservative leadership election has caused economic chaos for three weeks, repeated interventions on behalf of the Bank of England, and driven up mortgage rates,” he told the BBC.

“The damage has now been done. She’s in an impossible position where the survival of the government is dependent on publicly torching everything that she believes.”

Despite the building pressure, most Tory MPs remained behind their leader on Monday, arguing the country couldn’t afford the instability of ditching another prime minister.

One of Truss’s biggest bulwarks is the Conservative Party’s leadership rules.

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The head of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers must receive a letter from 15 per cent, or 53, of Conservative MPs to force a leadership spill. That’s what happened to kill Johnson’s premiership, sparking the run-off election in which Truss finished second behind Rishi Sunak before winning a vote of about 170,000 Conservative Party members.

The committee’s rules also block such a challenge from taking place in a leader’s first year.

However, the committee would likely feel obliged to change the rules if chair Graham Brady received an overwhelming number of letters denouncing Truss.

Many of the same names who threw their hats in the ring to replace Johnson have been included in UK media discussions about a potential Truss replacement.

They include Sunak, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and even a return by Johnson.

Hunt’s newfound power as the man already in control of the party’s financial policy has also put him in the conversation, along with defence secretary Ben Wallace. 

What other options exist?

Opposition leader Keir Starmer has called for an election, claiming the Tories have run out of excuses.

Truss declined to front Parliament for a grilling on Monday, prompting Labour MP Stella Creasy to accuse the prime minister of “cowering under a desk”.

Starmer had attempted to use an “urgent question” to force her to front up to face questions about sacking her old chancellor but

He pointed out major differences in statements made by Truss and what Hunt said on Monday, particularly regarding cuts.

“How can Britain get the stability it needs when all the government offers is grotesque chaos,” he said.

“How can Britain get the stability it needs when instead of leadership, we have this utter vacuum. 

“How can Britain get the stability it needs when the Prime Minister has no mandate from her party, and no mandate from the country.”

Mordaunt said Truss was “not hiding under a desk”, insisting Truss was detained on “urgent business”.

Mordaunt said a general election was not needed, attacking Starmer for advocating a move that wasn’t in the national interest.

“The decision taken by our prime minister would have been a very tough one, politically and personally,” Mordaunt said.

“She has taken it and she has done so because it is manifestly in the national interest. 

“She did not hesitate to do so because her focus is on the wellbeing of every one of our citizens. 

“It was the right thing to do and whether you agree with it or not, It took courage to do it.”

Johnson supporter Nadine Dorries suggested the party had only three options: back Truss, bring back Johnson, or call a general election.

After being absent for the urgent question, Truss sat behind Hunt as he provided the House of Commons with further detail on his new economic plans on Monday afternoon (early Tuesday AEDT).

Her next appearance before MPs is expected to be during Prime Minister’s Questions — the British equivalent of question time — on Wednesday.

The government’s full “Medium-Term Fiscal Plan” will be released on October 31.