Truss, who only became prime minister on September 6, will become the shortest-serving prime minister in modern political history.
“I cannot deliver on the mandate that the Conservative Party elected me to,” Truss said.
His resignation comes after a week of political and economic turmoil that saw the government introduce a new “mini-budget” and was widely criticized.
Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labor Party, has called for a general election. Boris Johnson led the Conservative Party, in the last general election in 2019 and won a large majority.
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Truss’ successor would be the fifth prime minister to be chosen from the ranks of the Conservative Party after Britain voted to leave the European Union in an unprecedented period of turmoil in British political history in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
From outside the steps of No. 10 Downing Street, Truss said a leadership election would take place in the next seven days.
Truss’ budget was roundly criticized by opposition figures and economists, as well as generating rare criticism of the domestic policy from President Joe Biden and the International Monetary Fund.
After Truss announced his resignation, Biden released a statement saying, “The United States and Britain are strong allies and enduring friends — and that fact will never change. For her partnership on a range of issues, I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss. Hold Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.” We will continue our close collaboration with the UK Government as we work together to tackle the global challenges facing our nations.”
While the chancellor in charge of the budget, Kwasi Kwarteng, resigned last week and his successor immediately set about reversing the promised tax cuts, the damage to the Trust’s authority ultimately proved terminal.
Tensions within the party came to a head on Tuesday night ahead of the parliamentary vote, which was seen as a vote of confidence for the prime minister. The panic that ensued after several ministers resigned led to reports of some MPs being physically harassed by government ministers to force them to cast their votes.
In UK history, including Liz Truss, here are the shortest-serving prime ministers
A Labor opposition politician who witnessed the incident said, “It was very aggressive, very angry — there was a lot of shouting. At least there was one hand on another MP and, to me, that was clear bullying and intimidation.”
On Thursday, observers said Truss’ former leadership rival Rishi Sunak and newly installed chancellor Jeremy Hunt are early favorites to succeed the prime minister.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Boris Johnson, who resigned in a scandal this summer, has emerged among loyal MPs as a sensational, if an unlikely, favorite candidate for a return to the forefront of British politics.