Chaos and turbulence has reigned at the heart of Liz Truss' government, almost since day one of her premiership.
The confusion over Wednesday's fracking vote — which was, then wasn't and then was again a confidence vote in her administration — and failed economic plan convinced Conservative Party MPs to start publicly calling for her to resign.
It did not matter to them that she had been in office just 44 days (as of October 20).
And so it was that the message delivered by Sir Graham Brady, the de facto chief of the Tory backbenchers, informed Ms Truss that her party was against her continuing in office.
MPs believed her revolving door of cabinet ministers and the mini Budget which saw the pound tumble in value and sent mortgage rates soaring were enough to warrant her walking the plank.
Labour rocketing to a poll lead of 30-plus points over the Tory incumbents did not help settle their jitters about holding onto their seats at the next election, currently planned for 2024.
With only another week left in the job according to her resignation speech outside No 10 on Thursday, Ms Truss falls well short of the current record for the shortest serving British prime minister, meaning she picks up the unenviable claim to fame.
What were the bookies were saying?
Punters had been warned they weren't likely to make money off betting on Liz Truss to have the shortest reign of any Prime Minister in history.
In fact, as of Thursday morning, the bookies thought it was a dead cert that she would not surpass George Canning's unfortunate 119-day record.
And their calculations proved spot on.
The 47-year-old would have had to have served until Wednesday January 4, 2023, to beat Canning's short stint in office — a mark she did not even get halfway towards.
At least fans of the early 19th century Tory politician would be able to point to his tenure being cut short by death, after he contracted tuberculosis.
Canning — who like Ms Truss was also a former foreign secretary — became ill shortly into his term and died on August 8, 1827, at age 57.
His successor, the Viscount Goderich (Frederick Robinson, the Earl of Ripon), held the record for the shortest premiership of a PM who did not die in office — 144 days.
Coral bookies had put the 10 Downing Street incumbent as 1/8 to take Canning's place as the shortest-serving PM ever.
She fared even worse at Ladbrokes, which told the Mirror that it had Ms Truss at 1/6 to last fewer than 119 days and that only a miracle would have allowed her to reach that target.
In betting terms, both bookies saw it as a virtual certainty that Ms Truss would be out before the next 75 days were over — and that prediction came true.
According to a Savanta ComRes poll, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer leads in the public's opinion of who would make the best PM.
He scored 48% compared with Ms Truss' 20%.
Who is the favourite to the be the next prime minister?
According to Ladbrokes, Rishi Sunak is the odds-on favourite to become the next Tory leader and PM.
- Rishi Sunak - 4/6
- Penny Mordaunt - 9/4
- Ben Wallace - 8/1
- Boris Johnson - 20/1
- Kemi Badenoch - 20/1
- Michael Gove - 25/1
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "It already looks as though this has been whittled down to a three-horse race to replace Liz Truss, with Rishi Sunak unsurprisingly leading the way as things stand."
Former chancellor Mr Sunak was runner up to Ms Truss in the summer leadership contest, while Ms Mordaunt narrowly missed out on reaching the final two.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is popular among the Tory membership but ruled himself out of the running last time round.
Who was the shortest-serving prime minister?
In the modern era, there have been plenty of prime ministers who have not stuck around long.
In fact, the UK is onto its fourth political leader in just six years following Ms Truss’ appointment last month.
8. Boris Johnson – 3 years and 44 days
The recently forced-out PM put the acrimony and stalemate of Britain's exit from the European Union behind him to secure a stomping majority at the 2019 snap election.
But the coronavirus pandemic dealt him a tough hand, with his administration later being mired in scandal after it was discovered staff, including Mr Johnson, broke social distancing rules by holding parties in Downing Street.
With his government collapsing under a series of self-inflicted scandals, a succession of devastating ministerial resignations dealt his premiership a fatal body blow, leading him to resign on July 7 2022.
7. James Callaghan - 3 years and 29 days
The Labour prime minister was elected in 1976, but was ousted from the role by the unstoppable force of Margret Thatcher.
Mr Callaghan presided over a similar time to the present day, facing a host of industrial disputes but with the added complication of record unemployment and high discontent.
6. Theresa May - 3 years and 11 days
The former Conservative prime minister Theresa May was undone after she lost the Tory majority following her decision to call a snap election in 2017.
Admitting herself that she was the wrong person to tackle the Brexit deal saga, she gave way to Boris Johnson in June 2019 having failed to get her EU exit deal approved by Parliament.
5. Neville Chamberlain - 2 years and 348 days
Neville Chamberlain is perhaps best known as the prime minister at the time of the outbreak of WW2 and remembered particularly for waving his piece of paper from Hitler promising he would not invade further in 1938.
He stepped down when circumstances demanded a different figure in Sir Winston Churchill.
4. Gordon Brown - 2 years and 318 days
Labour's Gordon Brown took over from serial winner Tony Blair but, despite soaring popularity rating upon appointment, never actually won an election himself.
The former chancellor took the reins at the worst time, with the country soon heading into one of the most dire economic crises on record following the banking collapse.
The Labour leader eventually gave way to the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition government led by David Cameron and Nick Clegg after the 2010 election produced a hung parliament.
3. Sir Anthony Eden - 1 year and 279 days
Sir Anthony Eden, a Conservative, saw his job become untenable due to the Suez Canal crisis in the 1950s.
He officially stepped down due to poor health, however, rumours swirled that he had misled parliament over collusions with Israel and France.
2. Sir Alec Douglas-Home - 1 year and 1 day
Sir Alec Douglas-Home was ousted by a disastrous showing for the Tories in the 1964 general election.
He had only taken over the position in 1963 after Harold Macmillan resigned, but lasted just over a year in No 10.
Sir Alec clashed with trade unions, and, with his aristocratic background, was seen as out-of-touch with the people.
1. Bonar Law - 211 days
Conservative MP Bonar Law became prime minister in October 1922.
Sadly, the former chancellor was forced to resign due to ill health in May 1923 after terminal throat cancer rendered him unable to speak in the House of Commons.
He died only five months after standing down.
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