Liz Truss is to officially stand down as Prime Minister after less than 50 days in office.
She made the statement on Thursday October 20 and will remain at Number 10 until a successor is chosen. There will be a leadership election within the next week.
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The news comes after mounting pressure was placed on Ms Truss over the last 24 hours after the home secretary resigned and a chaotic vote on fracking was held.
Speaking outside Downing Street in front of dozens of reporters Ms Truss said she came into office at a time of "great economic and international instability" and that she cannot deliver the mandate she was elected on by Tory members and is resigning.
Downing Street sources said earlier today the prime minister invited Sir Graham Brady, the influential chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, to No 10 in what appeared to be a hastily-arranged meeting on Thursday.
The MP entered No 10 after the number of Tory MPs demanding the Prime Minister's resignation doubled within just a couple of hours to a dozen after chaotic scenes in the Commons that followed the resignation of Suella Braverman as home secretary.
Calls for Truss to resign intensified over the course of Thursday morning with six Tories - Sir Gary Streeter, Sheryll Murray, Miriam Catets, Steve Double, Henry Smith and Matthew Offord - adding their voices to the eight others.
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As Conservatives wondered how long she would remain in power, Truss acknowledged a "difficult day" in her premiership but insisted she wanted to push on, her official spokesman said.
The announcement came shortly after 1pm on Thursday afternoon.
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