Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after six weeks in office
Liz Truss has resigned as UK Prime Minister after just six weeks in office.
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Speaking outside Number 10 Downing Street today (October 20), Truss 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.”
She continued: “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.”
Truss went on to confirm that a Tory leadership election will be completed within the next week. She will remain as PM until a successor has been chosen.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for an immediate general election following Truss’ statement.
Per The Daily Telegraph, Truss has become the shortest-serving UK Prime Minister in history. The record was previously held by George Canning, who served for four months prior to his death in 1827.
Both the Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, have also resigned in the space of a week.
Truss has been facing increased pressure since the widely criticised mini-budget was announced last month. There was further turmoil and division within government yesterday (October 19) following a House Of Commons vote on fracking.
The departing PM ultimately U-turned on plans to scrap the 45p tax rate for the highest earners because it had become a “distraction”.
During a speech at the Conservative Party conference recently, Truss said she was “working flat out” in order to help people get through the ongoing cost of living crisis. “So let me be clear: we have your back,” she added.
Truss’ predecessor Boris Johnson resigned on July 7, triggering a Tory Party leadership contest. On September 5, she won the race by 81,326 votes (57 per cent) to Rishi Sunak’s 60,399 (43 per cent).
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Tom Skinner
NME