British Prime Minister Liz Truss Resigns After 45 Days In Office
British prime minister Liz Truss has announced that she is resigning after just 45 days – or six weeks – in office.
BBC notes that this is the shortest tenure of any prime minister in the United Kingdom (UK).
Delivering a speech outside Downing Street on Thursday (20 Oct), Ms Truss said that she “cannot deliver the mandate on which [she] was elected by the Conservative Party”.
Therefore, she has notified King Charles III that she is resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
Liz Truss says there’ll be leadership election within a week
Ms Truss went on to say that she met with 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady that morning.
They agreed that 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,” she said.
"I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party"
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resignshttps://t.co/O5kO1WJ4tY pic.twitter.com/Gq6FtOGNIP
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 20, 2022
She will remain as prime minister until a successor is chosen to take her place.
Growing number of calls to quit
Reuters reports that Ms Truss, who was appointed prime minister on 6 Sep, has faced a growing number of calls from her own lawmakers to step down.
This comes after she had to fire finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng and scrap most of her economic programmme when their plans for unfunded tax cuts sent the British Pound crashing to record lows.
As a result, approval ratings for Ms Truss and her Conservative Party collapsed as well.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured images adapted from BBC.