Liz Truss resigns, becoming UK’s shortest serving Prime Minister

Liz Truss has resigned as Prime Minister after 44 days, making her premiership the shortest ever in UK history.

Appearing on the steps of Downing Street, Truss said she accepted she could not deliver the vision she had promised to the country when becoming party leader.

Speaking outside Number 10 Downing Street, Truss said: “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 for too long by low economic growth.”

She added: “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 of 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.”

A leadership election will now take place within the next week. It follows the departure of Home Secretary Suella Braverman yesterday and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last week.

Truss has been facing renewed pressures since the widely derided mini-budget caused the pound to tank last month, prompting an intervention from the Bank of England. Further chaos followed yesterday (October 19) following a House Of Commons vote on fracking.

Truss also U-turned on plans to scrap the 45p tax rate for the highest earners because it had become a “distraction”.

Her predecessor Boris Johnson resigned in July, prompting a Tory leadership race. She was announced as the winner on September 5, beating Rishi Sunak with 81,326 (57 per cent) to Sunak’s 60,399 (43 per cent).