Liz Truss will become the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, after announcing her intention to resign just six weeks into a disastrous term that pitched Britain deep into political and economic turmoil.
Truss said Thursday that she would step aside for a new leader to be chosen within the next week, after a growing number of her own Conservative Party’s lawmakers said they could not support her any longer.
“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 said while standing outside the famous black door of 10 Downing Street, the same spot in which she had promised to put the UK back onto the path to economic growth and stability just six weeks earlier.
The announcement brings to an ignominious end a catastrophic tenure in Downing Street, which appeared doomed ever since the announcement of Truss’s flagship economic agenda sent markets into panic, reported CNN. A record rise in UK government bond prices sent borrowing costs surging and forced the Bank of England to make three successive interventions to rescue overstretched pension funds. The pound at one point hit an all-time low against the US dollar.
Graham Brady, who chairs the 1922 Committee which represents rank-and-file Conservative Members of Parliament, said Thursday that the new party leader – and therefore prime minister – should be in place before the end of October.
Speaking outside the House of Commons, Brady said the contest to replace Truss as the party’s leader should be concluded by October 28. Further details of the process would be announced later Thursday, he said. /Argumentum.al
