UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced her resignation after a whirlwind 44 days in office - in which, she lost the confidence of various Tory MPs, as well as the general public through economic turbulence.
She is now set to become the shortest ever serving PM in the history of UK politics, after battling an open revolt from Conservatives who demanded her departure.
Speaking from a lectern in Downing Street this afternoon, Ms Truss announced that she told King Charles III that she would be resigning from her post as the leader of the Conservative Party - in all, the leader of the UK Government.
Read more: Liz Truss resigns LIVE: PM steps down after just 44 days at Downing Street
Accompanied by husband Hugh O’Leary, she said: “I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills.
“Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent. And our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth. I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this – we delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance.
“And we set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit. I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.
“I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party. This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. We have agreed that there will be a leadership election to 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. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen. Thank you.”
Here's what happens next, as the UK sees yet another leadership battle...
What happens next?
There will now be a leadership election to be completed within the next week she said, after speaking to the leader of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, in No 10. It comes just a little over 24 hours after she told MPs she was a 'fighter, not a quitter'.
Chronicle Live understands that it will only be Conservative MPs voting on the nation's next leader and not all members of the party itself. This means that the UK will see its fifth conservative leader in just five years, also the third this year alone.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has also ruled himself out of standing candidate for the next leadership race - according the the PA News Agency.
Meanwhile, Labour and the Liberal Democrats are the first two parties since Truss' resignation to call for an immediate general election, with Sir Ed Davey and Sir Keir Starmer both making their points heard.
The Labour leader said: “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. In the last few years, the Tories have set record-high taxation, trashed our institutions and created a cost-of-living crisis.
"Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 a month extra on their mortgages. The damage they have done will take years to fix. Each one of these crises was made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each one has left our country weaker and worse off.
“The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people. They do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment; Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish.
“The British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future. They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future.
"We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.”
Read next:
- Grant Shapps appointed Home Secretary, Downing Street confirms
- Tory MPs rally around Prime Minister's pensions commitment as PMQs performance branded 'painful'
- Councillors reject plan to demolish Gosforth synagogue for 'incongruous and obtrusive' flats
- Worry over 'incredibly challenging' West Denton leisure centre as work delayed and costs rise
- Bids confirmed for low-tax North East investment zones to create '23,000 jobs and 8,000 homes'
