Former UK PM Liz Truss loses her seat at election

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LONDON (Reuters) – Former British prime minister Liz Truss, who became the country’s shortest-serving leader ever when she sparked a bond market meltdown and a collapse in sterling, lost her parliamentary seat in the election on Friday.

Truss secured 11,217 votes in her South West Norfolk constituency in eastern England, behind 11,847 votes for Labour candidate Terry Jermy.

Taking over from the scandal-ridden premiership of Boris Johnson, Truss, 48, was forced to announce her resignation after just 44 days when her unfunded tax cuts sparked financial market turmoil, raising the cost of mortgages for homeowners already in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

Lampooned in the media – one tabloid newspaper asked in the dying days of her premiership whether she would last longer than a supermarket lettuce – Truss had become synonymous for many voters with the chaos and failures of Conservative government.

She has, however, remained an influential voice among right-wing lawmakers in the party.