Liz Truss resigns as UK Prime Minister, says 'cannot deliver mandate'

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss

British Prime Minister Liz Truss on October 20 announced that she is resigning from her post. The announcement comes amid mounting pressure to quit, just six weeks into the job, after she launched an economic policy that triggered a bond market rout.

With this, Truss is set to be the shortest-serving prime minister --45 days--in UK history, during which, her mini-budget crashed the markets, and she lost two key ministers.

Speaking outside the door of her Number 10 Downing Street office, Truss accepted that she could not deliver the promises she made when she was running for Conservative leader, having lost the faith of her party.

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"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," she said.

She went on to say that she met with 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady today.

"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 on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country's economic stability and national security."

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However, Truss will remain PM till conservatives pick a successor, a process that could likely take a week.

Moreover, in latest development of events,  Sky News has reported that Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, two contenders in Britain's previous leadership contest this year, are believed to be in the running to become the nation's next prime minister.

The major crisis in the UK government comes a day after the outgoing PM lost her interior minister, Suella Braverman, who quit on Wednesday, less than a week after she fired her finance minister. Braverman cited "serious concerns" about the government.

The final straw for many Tory MPs appeared to be the chaotic scenes on Wednesday, in which a vote on a Labour motion over fracking saw mayhem in the voting lobbies, with shouting and jostling. Afterwards, a dozen or more Conservative MPs who rebelled did not even know whether they still had the whip.

Five days ago, Truss sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, replacing him with Jeremy Hunt, the former foreign secretary and health secretary.

(With inputs from agencies)