the country. In a strategy labelled Trussonomics, Truss introduced policies in response to the cost of living crisis, including tax cuts, price caps on energy bills, and government help to pay them. However, her tax cuts were met with severe criticism as they benefitted higher earners much more, due to removing the top 45% rate of tax and offering tax cuts through the medium of cancelling a rise in national insurance. Markets reacted poorly to the actions of Truss and her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng. After the announcement of the 'mini-budget' on 26 September, the pound fell to a record low of 1.03 against the dollar, and UK government gilt yields rose to 4.3%, prompting the Bank of England to trigger an emergency bond-buying programme. Condemnation was received from the public, the Labour Party, and from within the Conservative Party itself, and Truss scrapped some aspects of the budget, including axing the top rate of tax. In response to the criticism, Truss fired Kwarteng and appointed Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor. She also appeared in a number of interviews, including one with the BBC in which she apologised for the 'mistakes' she made in the first weeks of her premiership. After continuous backlash against her in Tory backbenches, Truss announced her pending resignation as Prime Minister on 20 October 2022, after just 44 days in office. This is the shortest term in British political history, breaking George Canning's previous record of 119 days after he died whilst in office. Truss was observed as having not received a so-called 'honeymoon period' at the beginning of her term, wherein a leader experiences a polling boost upon taking office. Whereas former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair had an approval rating of up to around 90% during the early months of his premiership, polling suggested that Truss had an approval rating lower than any ever received by Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn, including being mostly disapproved of by 2019 Conservative voters. Truss also oversaw the worst polling the Conservative Party has ever received - shortly after Truss' resignation the Labour Party's seven-day polling average stands at 54% up from 41% on 23 September, with the Conservatives' average falling from 33% to 21%. One poll, held between 26 and 30 September, suggested a loss of 219 Conservative seats, resulting in a Labour landslide. Rishi Sunak (2022–present) Another leadership election began after Truss' resignation, with an increased