Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister
Liz Truss has resigned as Prime Minister after just 45 days in office.
The announcement, made by Truss outside Downing Street, follows the near-total evaporation of his political authority which has seen him plunge markets, lose two key ministers and lose the confidence of almost all his own MPs .
Truss will be the shortest Prime Minister in UK history.
Updated at 1.42pm BST
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Caroline Davies
Coup, murder, abdication, suicide and illness – all have contributed to the shortest leaderships in history, although none, at least in the literal sense, can be said to apply to Liz Truss.
But with just 45 days to go, she faces the ignominy of being the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister to any degree.
As he becomes an indelible footnote in British history, Truss will take no comfort that, compared to some, he has enjoyed positive political longevity.
Read the full story here:
Liz Truss resignation speech in full
I took 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 entire continent.
And our country had been held back for too long by low economic growth.
I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change that.
We delivered the energy bills and the national insurance reduction.
And we set out a vision for a low-growth, high-growth economy, which would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.
I acknowledge, however, that, given the situation, I cannot fulfill the mandate for which I was elected by the Conservative Party.
I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am stepping down 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 that will be completed next week.
This will ensure that we remain on track to deliver on our fiscal plans and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security.
I will continue as Prime Minister until a successor is chosen.
Thanks .
Labor and the Liberals are calling for an immediate general election
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has called an immediate general election.
In a statement following Liz Truss’ resignation, Starmer said:
The Conservative Party has shown that it no longer has the mandate to govern.
After 12 years of Conservative failure, the British people deserve much better than this revolving door of chaos. In recent years, the Tories have set record taxes, trashed our institutions and created a cost of living crisis. Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing an extra £500 a month on their mortgages. The damage they have done will take years to repair.
Each of these crises was staged in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each has left our country weaker and worse off.
The Tories cannot respond to their latest disasters by once again clicking their fingers and shuffling people from above without the consent of the British people. They do not have the mandate to make the country go through another experiment; Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run as they please.
The British public deserve a proper say in the country’s future. They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to fix their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer and greener future. We must have a chance to start over. We need a general election, now.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has also called a general election.
We don’t need another Conservative prime minister who goes from crisis to crisis.
We need a general election now and the Tories out of power.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) October 20, 2022
We don't need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis.
We need a General Election now and the Conservatives out of power.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) October 20, 2022
Jeremy Hunt ‘not running for prime minister’
Jeremy Hunt will not stand in the leadership contest, according to reports.
The BBC reports that Hunt has confirmed that he will not be the next Conservative leader and UK Prime Minister.
Updated at 1.56pm BST
Leadership election ‘will be completed next week’
Truss said he has spoken to the king to notify him that he is stepping down as leader of the Conservative party.
He earlier met with the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, where they “agreed that there will be a leadership election which will be completed within the next week”. She said:
This will ensure that we stay on track to deliver on our fiscal plans and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security.
Truss said she would continue as prime minister until a successor was chosen.
Updated at 1.44pm BST
Liz Truss began her statement by saying she came into office “at a time of great economic and international instability”.
The UK has been “held back for too long by low economic growth”, he said. She says she was elected by her party with a mandate to change that.
His government “met energy bills” and cut national insurance, he said, as well as “setting out a vision for a low-tax growth economy that would take advantage of Brexit freedoms”.
She continued:
I recognize that although given the situation I cannot fulfill the mandate for which I was elected by the conservative party.
Liz Truss has announced she will step down as Prime Minister – here’s our story
Updated at 1.42pm BST
Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister
Liz Truss has resigned as Prime Minister after just 45 days in office.
The announcement, made by Truss outside Downing Street, follows the near-total evaporation of his political authority which has seen him plunge markets, lose two key ministers and lose the confidence of almost all his own MPs .
Truss will be the shortest Prime Minister in UK history.
Updated at 1.42pm BST
Liz Truss to resign as Prime Minister
Liz Truss is expected to resign as Prime Minister, The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar has been told.
Updated at 1.33pm BST
Liz Truss to make a statement about her future
Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to make a statement after talks in Downing Street with 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, Deputy Prime Minister Thérèse Coffey and Conservative party chairman Jake Berry.
Truss is expected to issue a statement imminently, according to Downing Street sources, which has fueled intense speculation that she is about to step down as prime minister after just 44 days, following the near-total evaporation of her political authority, a process started in the past. the disastrous mini-budget of the month.
A lectern is being set up outside 10 Downing Street in preparation for Truss’s speech.
It is unclear whether he will step down immediately or set a timetable for his exit, with the Conservative party so far unable to unite around a successor, although Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt and Ben Wallace s ‘ have mentioned as possible successors.
Read the full story here:
Updated at 1.26pm BST
Downing Street to make a statement at 1.30pm
Liz Truss is expected to make a statement in Downing Street at 1.30pm, it has been announced.
Updated at 1.18pm BST
And another Tory MP, now Rushcliffe MP Ruth Edwards, has publicly called for Liz Truss to resign.
Writing for ConservativeHome, she said Tory colleagues were “in tears” ahead of last night’s fracking vote after she was forced to choose between voting to lose the whip or voting against ‘a manifesto commitment.
She says:
The trust between the Parliamentary Party and the Prime Minister no longer exists. You can only do a stunt like this once. And you can’t work as a team if the foot soldiers are treated with contempt by the general.
She says she made her views known to the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, earlier this week, adding:
The prime minister has shown stunning economic and political incompetence during her short tenure in office. He is not responsible for the party allowing him to remain in power. Not when their actions can have such damaging consequences for our constituents.
Meanwhile, another Tory MP has publicly called for Liz Truss to leave.
Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer said yesterday’s “deterioration of the situation” has left her with no choice but to lodge a letter of censure.
He shared an image of his letter to the 1922 Committee chairman, Sir Graham Brady, writing:
Yesterday, I tried to get called to PMQs to ask Liz Truss for a guarantee of support for our city and our promises.
Unfortunately I was not called and the deterioration of the situation throughout the day left me no choice but to send a letter of censure to the Prime Minister to Sir Graham Brady.
Updated at 13.04 BST