Liz Truss quits as British Prime Minister

Liz Truss has resigned as British Prime Minister, saying she cannot deliver the mandate on which she was elected by the Conservative Party.

Liz Truss announces her resignation at Downing Street on Thursday night (AEDT). Picture: Getty Images

Liz Truss has announced her resignation and will become Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister.

In a brief statement outside Downing Street shortly after 11.30pm on Thursday (AEDT), Ms Truss said: “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party”.

Ms Truss said she had spoken to King Charles and had then discussed the way to replace her with the head of the Tory backbench committee, Sir Graham Brady.

“We’ve agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week,” she said.

“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.”

A selection for prime minister – the third in three months – should take place by Friday, October 28, Sir Graham said.

“It will be possible to conduct a ballot and conclude a leadership election by Friday the 28th of October. So we should have a new leader in place before the fiscal statement which will take place on (October) the 31st,” Sir Graham told reporters.

Ms Truss said the country has been held back for too long by low economic growth, but blamed the war in Ukraine, energy prices and international uncertainty. But in just 44 days Ms Truss crashed the economy, and lost two key ministers, the chancellor of the exchequer and the home secretary.

It had become clear that Ms Truss was tin-eared to the realities of trying to bring the warring Tory factions together, and the economic realities of her bold high growth, low-tax plan.

After a week of high drama, which coalesced in dramatic, high-pressure scenes in the lobby on Wednesday night during a vote on fracking where her chief whip and deputy whip resigned, and then took back the resignation, Ms Truss’s fingertip control of the party was completely lost.

Tory MPs are under significant stress with polling showing a 30-point lead to Labour, a result so devastating that it threatens the existence of the party if an election was to be held.

Ms Truss, 47, signed the end of her leadership last month when she rushed into slashing taxes while also committing to open ended government support for sky high household energy bills. Those moves rocked the financial markets, leading to high costs of borrowing, a brief shut down of the mortgage market and a plummeting pound.

Labour leader Keir Starmer has demanded an immediate general election.

“Each crisis is made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public.’’ he said.

He added: “The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people. We need a general election – now.”

The Conservative Party “has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern,” he said.

“After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos.

“Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 ($895) a month extra on their mortgages. The damage they have done will take years to fix.

“Each one of these crises was made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each one has left our country weaker and worse off.”

French President Emmanuel Macron wished Britain a rapid return to stability.

Arriving at an EU summit, Mr Macron said he would not comment on British domestic politics, but added: “It is important that Great Britain regains political stability very quickly, and that is all I wish.”

Russia said Britain had “never known such a disgrace as Prime Minister”.

“The catastrophic ignorance and the queen’s funeral immediately after her audience with Liz Truss will be remembered,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.