British PM resigns after six weeks
Liz Truss has become the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, resigning after a six-week stint in the top job and just a day after declaring she was “a fighter not a quitter”. In a short statement outside the leader’s official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, Truss said she could no longer deliver her mandate “given the situation” – referencing the weeks of economic and political tumult that set in shortly after she took office.
Financial chaos ensued after a disastrous growth-focused mini-budget that included borrowing billions of pounds to cut taxes and subsidise energy bills, which sent interest rates soaring for mortgage holders and government borrowing. Truss sacked her chancellor – the equivalent of a treasurer – and reverse tax cuts for the rich, but her authority was quashed when she was then forced to abandon almost every policy she had pledged in a desperate move to restore calm to Britain’s ailing economy.
Truss said she had notified the King, who went viral last week by greeting the prime minister with “dear oh dear”, of her resignation. A fresh leadership election will now take place by next Friday, with Conservative Party members rather than the general public again tasked with choosing the winner. Former chancellor Rishi Sunak and leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt – both key rivals in the previous protracted leadership contest – are the frontrunners to become Britain’s fifth leader in six years. However, Opposition Leader Sir Keir Starmer renewed his calls for a general election, arguing the Tories “do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment”. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Read Rob Harris’ report
Analysis: Even after Truss’ resignation, it’s not clear Tories have learned a lesson.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has resigned

Caution: Graphic Language