Liz Truss has announced her immediate resignation as leader of the Conservative party. Ms. Truss will remain as prime minister until a successor is found. Speaking outside No. 10 Downing Street shortly after 1.30pm on Thursday, Ms. Truss said she had informed King Charles III of her decision to stand down. It brings an end to her six week spell as prime minister during which she lost the confidence of MPs, party members, the wider public and her fiscal policies spooked financial markets. “This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. We’ve 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 plan and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen. Thank you,” she said. The race to be the next leader of the Conservative party and prime minister will be completed by Friday October 28, 2022 confirmed 1922 Committee Chair, Sir. Graham Brady. It is expected the ballot will be open to the parliamentary party i.e. Conservative MPs. Mr. Brady said Conservative party members “would be consulted” but he did not say how. Rishi Sunak is currently favourite to replace Ms. Truss as leader and prime minister. Chancellor of the Exchequer and two time party leader candidate, Jeremy Hunt, has ruled himself out of standing. Penny Mordaunt is also tipped to contest the leadership while former prime minister Boris Johnson is being given an outside chance of a return with some bookmakers quoting odds of 7/1. Labour Party leader, Sir. Keir Starmer, has responded by calling for a general election. Mr. Starmer described the crisis gripping the Conservative party as a “revolving door of chaos”. It is unlikely a new Conservative party leader would call an immediate general election. “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. 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. “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. They do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment; Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish. “The British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future. They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future. We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.”
