Liz Truss’s honours list proves once again she is a politician without judgement

The former prime minister’s 49 days in office ended in such failure that she should have declined to make the customary nominations to the peerage, writes John Rentoul

Liz Truss, the Lady Jane Grey of British prime ministers (PA Wire)

Liz Truss was prime minister for a shorter time than George Canning, the holder of the previous record for brevity of service. And he died in office, so her 49 days should be compared not with his 119 days, but possibly with the 144 days served by his successor Viscount Goderich.

Goderich was a weak leader who confessed to King George IV “how deeply he feels his own inadequacy to discharge the duties of the situation”. The king interpreted this as a resignation and appointed the Duke of Wellington instead.

Truss’s failure was even more humiliating. Her elevation was the first test of the principle that a prime minister could be chosen by party members outside parliament and imposed on MPs who would have chosen differently. Labour came close to breaching this constitutional principle when Theresa May nearly lost to Jeremy Corbyn in 2017, but it was the Conservative Party that finally tried it out – to vividly destructive effect.