Liz Truss was on Thursday forced to quit as UK prime minister, drawing to a dramatic close 45 days in office that saw her preside over financial turmoil and catastrophic damage to the ruling Conservative party.
Truss was told to quit by senior party figures on Thursday morning, leaving bitterly divided Tory MPs facing the prospect of having to choose a third prime minister in a matter of months.
In a brief statement in Downing Street at 1.35pm, Truss said she had notified King Charles she was standing down as Conservative leader and that a new leader and prime minister would be chosen next week.
She will go down in history as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, her government having collapsed in the wake of its failed “mini” budget of last month, which contained £45bn of unfunded tax cuts and triggered turmoil in the sterling and gilt markets.
Truss said she had been elected Tory leader to deliver a “low tax, high growth” economy, taking advantage of the “freedoms of Brexit”. But she conceded defeat: “Given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative party.”
Rishi Sunak, former chancellor, and Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons, are the two frontrunners to replace her, although a number of other candidates could enter the fray.
Suella Braverman, former home secretary, and Jeremy Hunt, current chancellor, will also be encouraged by supporters to stand.
Truss’s statement throws into further confusion the political and economic situation in Britain.
Hunt is currently scheduled to deliver a plan to fill a £40bn hole in Britain’s public accounts on October 31, but a new prime minister is expected to be in place by that date and will want to put their stamp on it.
Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee, met Truss on Thursday morning amid speculation from senior Conservatives that her premiership was drawing to a close.
Government insiders confirmed that Brady, who is responsible for overseeing Tory leadership contests, met Truss in Downing Street at the prime minister’s request.
The meeting was unscheduled and Truss’s allies said she requested the meeting with the “shop steward” of Tory MPs to “take the temperature” of the party after days of chaos.
Jake Berry, Tory chair, and Therese Coffey, deputy prime minister, were also seen entering Downing Street, adding to a sense that the crisis building around Truss’s premiership was coming to a head.
At least a dozen Tory MPs have called on Truss to resign, including Miriam Cates who is a member of the 1922 committee executive. “It seems untenable,” she said. “Yes, I do think it’s time for the prime minister to go.”
Truss’s premiership, which began on September 6, has seen her economic strategy crash and burn, the sacking of her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and the forced resignation on Wednesday of home secretary Suella Braverman.
Gilts held on to their gains after Truss’s resignation. The 10-year yield was 0.09 percentage points lower at 3.78 per cent, reflecting a rise in prices, while sterling also remained higher, trading up 0.5 per cent on the day against the dollar at $1.127.
Additional reporting by Tommy Stubbington