emergence of the Delta variant. The lockdown coincided with the approval and roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine, with some praise for the speed of the roll-out. All legal restrictions were lifted in July 2021. The Conservative Party took £11m from the finance sector between the 2019 general election and 2021 and became dependent on bankers and hedge fund tycoons, who gave nerly 40% of donations. Transparency campaigners feared Johnson was relying on "vested interests" who wanted little regulation and low business tax. Johnson gave the names of six major donors for peerages, including Michael Hintze who gave £4.5m to the Conservatives; Michael Spencer, who with his company gave roughly £7m; and Peter Cruddas, who gave £3.4m. The Sunday Times found in 2021 15 of the previous 16 Conservative Party treasurers got peerages and each donated over £3m to the Conservatives. From late 2021 onwards, Johnson received huge public backlash for the Partygate scandal, in which various senior members of government, aides, and Cabinet Office staff were pictured holding parties and other gatherings during lockdown. The Metropolitan Police investigated these claims and eventually fined Johnson for breaking lockdown rules in April 2022. Calls from leading opposition figures, including Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, for Johnson to resign as a consequence of Partygate were rejected. In July 2022, Johnson admitted to appointing Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip while being aware of allegations of sexual assault against him, and apologised. This, along with Partygate and increasing criticisms on Johnson's handling of the cost-of-living crisis, resulted in many members of the party losing confidence in Johnson as leader, and mass resignations from the Cabinet; this led to Johnson announcing his resignation as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister on 7 July. Liz Truss (2022) Following the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis, Boris Johnson resigned as Prime Minister. Boris Johnson's successor as leader of the party was confirmed as Liz Truss on 5 September, following a leadership election. She defeated Rishi Sunak, with 57.4% of the final ballot of party members. She became Prime Minister the following day. The death of Queen Elizabeth II occurred just two days into Truss' premiership, making Truss the last Prime Minister to have been appointed by the Queen. Throughout the mourning period that followed, Truss met King Charles III and accompanied him on visits to various remembrance services across