Prime Minister Liz Truss has dramatically resigned after just six weeks and will be replaced as Conservative leader by next Friday.
She announced her resignation outside 10 Downing Street this afternoon following a week of increasing chaos at Westminster saying: “I recognise I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the party.”
Opposition parties have all now called for an immediate general election, with SNP MP Angela Crawley calling a poll “imperative” after the six-week premiership had “taken a sledgehammer to the economy”, while Labour MSP Monica Lennon called the situation “an affront to democracy” and said: “The people should have a say over their future.”
Announcing her resignation, Ms Truss said: “A leadership election will be completed within the next week. This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security.”
Ms Crawley, the Lanark & Hamilton East MP – who stated when Ms Truss was appointed last month that she would “be a disaster of a Prime Minister” – said: “Her premiership will go down in history not only as one of the shortest but also one of the worst.
“In just 45 days in office, she has taken a sledgehammer to the economy and thoroughly trashed any remaining credibility the UK government had; it is now imperative that the new Prime Minister immediately calls a general election.”
Conservative MSP Graham Simpson, who backed Ms Truss for the leadership in last month's party election, said she “did the right thing” in standing down, having found herself in an impossible position”.
The Central Scotland member said: “I will now wait to see how the process of choosing our next party leader plays out over the next week. Clearly, we need a PM who can command the respect of the party but, more importantly, the country.”
Meghan Gallacher MSP, the Scottish party's deputy leader, said: “Liz Truss has made a difficult choice but ultimately one that I believe is right - after recent events, it became clear that there was no other decision she could make.
“Whatever your thoughts on her as Prime Minister, the recent period has shown how tough politics can be on people personally and I wish and her family well."
She added: “What is crucial now is that the party unites to elect a new leader and Prime Minister quickly; people and businesses are facing huge challenges and it is crucial that we get on with tackling them.”
Monklands MPs Steven Bonnar and Anum Qaisar both said the Prime Minister’s resignation was “no surprise”; with Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill representative Mr Bonnar saying: “The economic vandalism she inflicted on us all will still affect my constituents long after she’s gone.”
He said: “To crash the economy, tank the pound and negatively impact the markets and mortgages like Liz Truss did in a matter of six short weeks takes incredible levels of incompetence and negligence.
“We must also remember that the Scottish Tories were imploring Scottish ministers to implement the very same cuts brought forward by ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng that have wreaked such havoc across our economy.”
Mr Bonnar referenced the departing leader's appearance in the House of Commons yesterday by posting on social media: “The Prime Minister who told us yesterday she was a fighter and not a quitter has today quit.
“The second PM in as many months is out the door. Scotland can do better than Westminster chaos.”
Ms Qaisar tweeted of the same quote from Prime Minister’s Questions: “Truss resigning by another U-turn sums up her whole six weeks in Downing Street.”
She said there are “serious questions about the legitimacy and mandate of the current government”, telling Lanarkshire Live: “The current chaos demonstrates just how broken the Westminster system is; Scottish voters are being thrust from one political crisis to another that they have not voted for [and] after events that took place in the voting lobby last night, it is clear that the UK’s democratic process is currently on its knees.
“People across the four nations will soon have their third Prime Minister in the space of several months, during a time of financial crisis that has seen households plunged into destitution. Constituents continue to face unprecedented pressure as a result of years of Tory cuts, fiscal mismanagement and chaos.
“With a revolving door of cabinet ministers – having had four chancellors and two home secretaries in the past year – it’s no wonder people no longer have faith in this government, who have failed to address concerns of households and businesses.”
Clare Haughey, the Rutherglen MSP, said the Truss government has “stumbled from one disaster to another” and said: “Her track record before entering Downing Street was shambolic so her short premiership comes as no surprise at all.
“Whilst I am glad that Truss is gone, she needs to take the rest of her party with her. We have had 12 years of Tory rule and their austerity agenda.
“Enough is enough. We need a general election now to lock the Tories out, but going forward there is only one way to ensure Scotland is no longer at the mercy of future Tory governments we don’t vote for – independence.”
Monica Lennon, the Central Scotland Labour MSP, said: “It is right that Liz Truss has resigned but the chaos does not end with her exit from Downing Street; this rotten Tory government has to go.
“There must be a general election now because the people should have a say over their future. It’s an affront to democracy to leave the future of the country in the hands of Tory MPs.
“Liz Truss did not even have the decency to apologise for the damage she has done to people’s lives and the economy.”
Dr Lisa Cameron, the East Kilbride MP, said: "I have been surrounded by government chaos all week in the House of Commons that came to a climax with the resignation of the Prime Minister.
"It will now take a week for a new Conservative leader to be chosen, causing significant instability to markets, pensions, mortgages and to local people's lives - at a time of economic crisis this situation is a soap opera of extraordinary shame."
Constituency colleague Collette Stevenson MSP called it "an almighty mess" and "complete chaos", adding: "Our economy lies in tatters and it’s the public who are paying the price of the Tory party's complete incompetence.
"My constituents are already paying a high price for Truss’ policies and it’s incomprehensible that we are set to have yet another prime minister inflicted upon us without a general election, putting the democratic legitimacy of the UK in question."
The Prime Minister’s resignation follows an extraordinary sequence of events started by the mini-budget delivered by former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, announcing £45bn of tax cuts which had an immediate impact on financial markets.
Its effects included a reduction in the international value of the pound, spiralling impacts on interest rates and personal finances, and led to a U-turn just over a week later.
The past seven days have seen the replacement of both the chancellor and Home Secretary, reversal of most of the mini-budget measures by the former and chaotic Commons scenes last night in a fracking debate which was framed as a vote of confidence in the government.
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