Liz Truss today announced her resignation after a chaotic period during which she lost the confidence of Tory MPs and the public and saw the UK economy crash. She stood down after battling an open revolt from Conservatives demanding her departure.
Speaking outside Downing Street on Thursday afternoon, Ms Truss said she had told the King she was resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party. There will now be a leadership election to be completed within the next week she said, after speaking to the leader of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, in No 10.
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It comes just a little over 24 hours after she told MPs she was a 'fighter, not a quitter'. In her resignation statement she said: "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 plan and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen."
Ms Truss won the Conservative Party leadership election following the resignation of Boris Johnson. She took office on September 6, but with just 44 days in the job she has become the shortest serving Prime Minister.
Tory George Canning, who died of tuberculosis in 1827 after 119 days in office, was previously the UK's shortest serving PM.
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