A general election needs to be held immediately, Manchester Evening News readers have said after Liz Truss resigned - bringing her tumultuous 44-day spell as Prime Minister to an end.
In a statement outside Downing Street this afternoon announcing she was standing down Ms Truss said: “I recognise… given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. ”
She said a leadership election to choose her successor would now take place and would be completed within the next week.
READ MORE: LIVE: Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister - latest updates
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has demanded a "general election now." And a swathe of M.E.N readers added their voices to the growing calls for the country to be allowed to go the polls following a turbulent three months after former PM Boris Johnson announced his resignation in July.
Darren Bradshaw said on the M.E.N Facebook page : "The Conservative Party madness rolls on. Get them all out. We need a general election now."
Jesse Drew Dystart aid: "A new record for shortest prime Minister in history now the king should dissolve parliament and call for general election to allow THE PEOPLE to decide get these clowns OUT!"
Christina McCabe said: Thank god !!! They should have a general election everybody wants one."
Christopher Clarke said: "It's a general election what we need now for christ sake.....! This is a farce and the only ones suffering are us the public, so it's only fair we get to choose who runs the country."
Sarah Darvelle said: "About time too! The worst prime minister there has ever been....even tops Teresa May on that one and thats saying something! The whole party needs to be torn right up now qnd a general election had....enough of the s***show ...."
Sharing a petition calling for an election Paul Mitchell replied to one of the M.E.N's tweets announcing the news saying: "Liz Truss was the fourth prime minister in six years. Jeremy Hunt is the fourth chancellor in just four months. What a shambles. How many more unelected leaders must we endure? I think there should be an election when ANY UK PM resigns."
Jeff Swales said: "And the circus continues, no chance they will take us back to the ballot box though not when they’ve have a cushy £82k + expenses job they would lose."
Kelly Elaine Waterworth said: "Where is this job being advertised? Let me apply! The Country being run by millionaires and billionaires who have no clue about real life or the working class. Absolute joke of a place."
There were some early suggestions of who should replace Ms Truss.
Pat Smith said on Facebook: "Bring back Boris!" Whilst Elizabeth Cashen said: "We need to get Boris back he was a good minister come on Facebook pass it on for him."
However, Brenda Gullen-Scott said: "You must be having a laugh!" Whilst Ian Martin said: "He was a massive failure and caused all this."
There were several people who said they were angry with the entire political class for the chaos during a time of such economic uncertainty.
Jo Gilmore said: "They are all the same, don't trust any of them, they promise all sorts and never stick to it. None of them have had to worry about paying bills or if they can afford to even feed their families."
Karen Saunders said: "You might as well go into Manchester city centre and just grab a load of random people off the street, and start a new government."
The chair of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, Altrincham MP Sir Graham Brady said he had spoken to the party's chairman Jake Berry and that he had said it would be possible to conduct a ballot and conclude the leadership election by Friday, October 28.
That means the new PM would be in office by October 31, when the fiscal statement is due to be made by chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
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