Liz Truss on Thursday resigned as UK prime minister 44 days after she succeeded Boris Johnson.
Truss became prime minister on September 6 after defeating Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership contest and meeting late Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral
She will be the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, she said she had come to realise that she “cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party”.
In a statement read outside Downing Street, Ms Truss said: “I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability.
She added: “Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills.”
She said she was elected “with a mandate to change this”, adding: “We delivered on energy bills.”
“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.
“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.”
However, she said “Iwill remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen.”
Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has responded to Liz Truss announcing she is resigning as he called for a general election.
“Boris Johnson failed our country and Liz Truss trashed our economy. The Conservatives have proven time and time again they are not fit to lead our great country.
“We do not need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis, we need a general election, we need the Conservatives out of power and we need real change.
“It is time for Conservative MPs to do their patriotic duty, put the country first and give the people a say,” he said.
Meanwhile, US president, Mr. Joe Biden, has thanked Truss “for her partnership on a range of issues.”
In a statement following Truss’s resignation, Biden pledged that the close relationship between the US and UK “will never change.”
“The United States and the United Kingdom are strong Allies and enduring friends — and that fact will never change,” Biden said in a statement Thursday. “I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.”
Biden said the US would continue its “close cooperation with the U.K. government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face.”
With Sky News and CNBC reports
