Good morning, Broadsheet readers! A former employee is suing Planned Parenthood for racial discrimination, FIFA turns down broadcaster lowballs for Women’s World Cup coverage, and Liz Truss sets a record on her way out as U.K. prime minister.
Yesterday afternoon BST, Liz Truss announced her resignation as the U.K.’s prime minister. Her 45-day tenure set a record: the shortest period served as PM in British history—by a wide margin.
The previous holder of that title, George Canning, died after 119 days in office in 1827. Yes, Truss was even outlasted by a head of lettuce.
The ex-PM led the country through a seismic shift: the death of Queen Elizabeth II after 70 years on the throne, which makes Truss the only PM to serve under two monarchs since Winston Churchill, despite just six weeks on the job.
Liz Truss announces her resignation. Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images But the Conservative politician’s economic agenda, promising the most extensive tax cuts since the 1970s, quickly thrust the U.K. into turmoil.
“I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability,” Truss said in her resignation speech. “We set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit…I recognize, though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”
She vowed that the party would choose her successor within a week. As Britain prepares for its fifth prime minister in six years, here’s what to know:
—The markets responded well to Truss’s ouster. The pound rose to $1.13 against the dollar. The currency had reached a record low of $1.03 in late September as Truss proposed her economic agenda.
—A few frontrunners have emerged to succeed Truss as PM. House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt is in the mix, along with former home secretary and anti-immigration hardliner Suella Braverman (though that’s unlikely after Truss fired her earlier this week). Truss’s opponent in the last election, Rishi Sunak, might run again, as well as Boris Johnson, who preceded Truss as PM.
—Labour and Liberal Democrat lawmakers are placing pressure on the Conservative government to call a general election, allowing politicians from other parties to pitch themselves for the job. However, the likelihood that the Tory government will do so is slim.
—Truss is only 47, and where she goes from here is anyone’s guess. The Economist wrote that she has “a strong claim to be the least successful prime minister in British history.” She was the third woman to lead Britain after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May; all three have been Conservatives.
Let’s hope that the next woman to step into the role sees a better outcome.
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
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- Discrimination lawsuit. A former Planned Parenthood employee sued the reproductive rights organization for racial discrimination. Nicole Moore, a Black woman who worked for the New York organization between 2020 and 2021, says she was expected to take on more work than her white colleagues, denied advancement opportunities, and eventually fired when she brought up concerns. Planned Parenthood disputes Moore's allegations. New York Times
- Loan forgiveness. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected a plea from a Wisconsin taxpayer’s association to stop President Joe Biden’s student debt relief program on Thursday. New York Times
- Philanthropic efforts. Never mind the $12 billion Mackenzie Scott has donated since her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The latter became one of the first recipients of the Prophets of Philanthropy award from the Galileo Foundation this week. While it’s difficult to track philanthropic efforts, Bezos has only given between 1% and 4.99% of his wealth, earning him a philanthropy score of two from Forbes. Scott has earned the highest score possible, five, after giving away 20% or more of her money. Market Watch
- Fresh funding. Operator Collective, a venture fund whose investors are community entrepreneurs, raised $92 million for its second fund. Its founder-CEO is Mallun Yen. TechCrunch
- Baby boom. The pandemic shift to remote work helped fuel a baby boom last year, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which found that increased work flexibility and other pandemic-related factors helped create the first uptick in fertility rates since 2007. Fortune
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Private equity firm Advent International has appointed Shar Dubey and Mandy Ginsberg, both former CEOs of Match Group, as operating partners. KPMG has named Lisa Daniels vice chair of growth and strategy. Jessie Lockhart has been appointed chief people officer at 3D printing company Velo3D. Allianz Trade promoted Aylin Somersan Coqui, currently group chief risk officer of Allianz SE, to CEO and chairperson of the board of management. Healthtech company Honor Technology has appointed Tamar Rosati as chief product officer.
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- Lowball. FIFA, the world’s governing football body, rejected recent bids for the television rights to the 2023 Women's World Cup because offers were too low. Bloomberg
- Election in Illinois. Illinois is currently the only midwestern state to have codified abortion, and republicans in the state are trying to reverse it by gaining control of its highest court. Behind their push is funding from Republican contributors like billionaire and Citadel hedge fund founder Ken Griffin. Bloomberg
- Policy change. The Social Security Administration announced Wednesday it would allow people to select their gender identity in records, even if their identity documents show otherwise. It may also explore creating an “X” option for those who do not identify as male or female. New York Times
- Donor shortage. The number of Black women seeking sperm donors rose sharply during the pandemic. But Black sperm donors represent less than 2% of donors at the four largest cryobanks in the U.S., creating long wait times and short supplies for Black women looking for a donor of the same race. Washington Post
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The phone call that shifted Mikaela Shiffrin’s thinking about her lost Olympics Wall Street Journal
Cleta Mitchell is training thousands of Trump loyalists to monitor the polls on election day. What could go wrong? Intelligencer
Iranian state media is attempting to shame Britney Spears after she tweeted support for protesters Fortune
Lindsay Peoples and the ‘fearless usefulness’ of The Cut Women’s Wear Daily
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"I want to be able to have fun with how I present myself in the world without feeling like I’m a bad feminist or a good feminist."
-Model and author Emily Ratajkowski, whose podcast High Low with EmRata debuts Nov. 1.
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