Liz Truss said on Thursday she was resigning as British prime minister just six weeks after she was appointed, brought down by an economic program that sent shockwaves through financial markets last month and divided her Conservative Party.
Truss’s mini-budget crashed the markets, she lost two key ministers, and she lost the confidence of almost all her own MPs during the 45 days. She met with Graham Brady, the chair of the party’s 1922 committee of backbench Tories, Downing Street, followed by Thérèse Coffey, her deputy prime minister, and Jake Berry, the party chair. “With a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit,” she said, she entered office.
She went on: “I recognize that, 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’ve agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week. This will ensure that we remain 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.”
Opposition parties called for an immediate general election, saying the Conservatives had no mandate to govern.
