Liz Truss has quit as Prime Minister after just 44 days in office during which she lost the confidence of Conservative MP and the public.
She oversaw economic turbulence following the announcement of her unfunded mini-budget that led to her sacking Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor.
Truss is set to become the shortest serving PM in history after she faced an open revolt from Conservatives demanding her departure.
Speaking from a lectern in Downing Street, Truss said she had told King Charles she was resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party as she recognised she "cannot deliver the mandate" which Tory members gave her a little over six weeks ago.
Following her statement opposition leaders quickly called for a General Election with Keir Starmer saying Truss had "trashed our institutions".
He said: "The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern.
"After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos. In the last few years, the Tories have set record-high taxation, trashed our institutions and created a cost-of-living crisis. Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 a month extra on their mortgages. The damage they have done will take years to fix."
Liz Truss's resignation statement
"I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills.
"Putin's illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent. And our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth.
"I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this - we delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance. And we set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.
"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 have 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. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen. Thank you."
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