UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announces resignation
U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss announces her resignation after less than two months in office.
U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday after less than two months in office amid pressure following a reversal of economic policies that led to economic instability.
Truss made the announcement a day after she defiantly declared that she is "a fighter and not a quitter." Ultimately, however, she said that circumstances have changed.
"Given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party," Truss said. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party."
Truss said that a leadership election will take place "within the next week" and that she will stay on as prime minister "until a successor has been chosen."
Truss' announcement came soon after Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned via a letter that slammed the prime minister.
UK PM TRUSS DEFIANTLY STATES ‘I AM A FIGHTER’ AFTER CALLS FOR HER RESIGNATION
"The business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes," Braverman said. "Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics."
Braverman, part of the right wing of the Conservative Party, ran for party leader earlier this year, coming up short when Truss won.
Braverman’s exit came days after Truss fired Treasury head Kwasi Kwarteng amid financial turmoil that included the British pound declining in value to be nearly equal to the U.S. dollar. The problems came after Truss’ administration pushed a tax cut plan in September, which Kwarteng’s replacement Jeremy Hunt scrapped in October.
Truss apologized to lawmakers on Wednesday and admitted she had made errors during her time in office — just six weeks, so far — but insisted that scrapping the tax cut plan was "the right decision in the interest of the country’s economic stability."
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer blasted Truss on Wednesday, shouting in the House of Commons, "Why is she still here?"
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Liz Truss meets supporters at a Conservative Party leadership election hustings at the NEC in Birmingham, England, on Aug. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)
Many Conservative Party members were also saying Truss needed to go. Conservative lawmaker Simon Hoare told the BBC on Thursday that Truss had "about 12 hours" to fix the situation. Other Conservative Party lawmakers did not appear even to be willing to wait that long.
"It’s time for the prime minister to go," Miriam Cates said.
"She isn’t up to the job, sadly," Steve Double opined.
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Many within the party hope that replacing Truss will stave off Labour Party momentum and help Conservatives maintain control in the long run. Possible replacements for Truss include Hunt; ex-Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, who Truss defeated earlier this year; and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.
Truss will remain in power until the party chooses a replacement. That process could take weeks under current rules, which allow all party members to vote, although the party’s left wing is looking to change the rules to limit voting to members of Parliament. Such a change could mean Truss could be out within days.
Fox News' Ben Evansky and The Associated Press contributed to this report.