Liz Truss has quit as Prime Minister after just six weeks in the role. Under her leadership, a disastrous string of economic policies were introduced which threw markets into turmoil - and saw Tory MPs lose confidence in her.
On Thursday (October 20) Ms Truss announced that she was standing down as PM. In a statement outside Downing Street, she said she had told the King she is resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
It came after weeks of chaos in government, which came to a head on Wednesday when Suella Braverman lashed out at Ms Truss’ “tumultuous” premiership in her own resignation letter. She accused the government of “breaking key pledges” including on immigration policy.
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Just days earlier, Ms Truss sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt. He then reversed the majority of the policies set out in Mr Kwarteng's mini-budget during his own emergency fiscal statement on Monday (October 17).
Ms Truss said there would now be a leadership election to replace her “to be delivered within the next week”. Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Tory 1922 Committee, said he expected the new leader to be in place by Friday, October 28.
He told reporters: “I have spoken to the party chairman Jake Berry and he has confirmed that it will be possible to conduct a ballot and conclude a leadership election by Friday the 28th of October. So we should have a new leader in place before the fiscal statement which will take place on the 31st.”
Some Tory MPs will now be eager to nominate themselves for the contest. In order for a party member to qualify for the chance to be Tory leader, they must demonstrate they have the support of at least 20 MPs.
Then, during the first ballot, candidates must get at least 30 votes to remain in the leadership race. A second ballot usually takes place the following day, with further ballots continuing over the next week until two candidates remain.
This will lead to a postal ballot, where Tory members across the country can have their say on who should run the party. It hasn't yet been confirmed who will put themselves forward for the contest, but allies of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he would not be standing for the Tory leadership.
Despite the leadership contest, Sir Keir Starmer called for a general election 'now' following Ms Truss' resignation. The Labour leader added: “The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern. After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos."
Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrats leader, also called for a general election. In a tweet, he said: "We don't need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis. We need a General Election now and the Conservatives out of power."
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Sir Keir Starmer calls for general election 'now' following resignation of Liz Truss
