Just 24 hours after Liz Truss said she vows to stay on and she is not a quitter, today she has announced her resignation in a press conference outside of Downing Street.
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Merely a six week tenure
After just 45 days in office, Liz Truss has quit her job as UK’s Prime Minister.
To date she is the shortest serving prime minister in UK history.
In her announcement, Liz Truss cited various global and domestic challenges which thwarted her attempts to deliver on her mandate and for this reason she has notified His Majesty, King Charles III that she is stepping down as Leader of the Conservative Party and as the UK Prime Minister.
Liz Truss said she will carry out her job now as Acting Prime Minister, Guardian reports.
‘I will remain in Downing Street as Acting Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.’
Tory leadership race vs general election
The outgoing PM also said that this morning she has met the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. They have agreed to conduct a leadership election until next week, hinting at the Tories intention of carrying out their mandate past the short-lived Truss government, The Guardian reports.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties have called for an immediate general election. In a statement, the leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer 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’
Similarly, Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, has also called for a general election.
We don't need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) October 20, 2022
We need a General Election now and the Conservatives out of power.
Sources used:
-Financial Times: ‘Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister’
-The Guardian: ‘Liz Truss resigns as prime minister in statement outside Downing street – watch live’
-The Guardian: ‘Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister sparking Tory leadership race as Labour and Lib Dems call for general election – live’
Read more:
⋙ King Charles III faces this massive challenge as the UK’s new sovereign
⋙ Liz Truss being called to resign: What options does the Prime Minister have?
⋙ New British Prime Minister Liz Truss: Here’s everything we know about the handover of power
