Truss announces her resignation as prime minister and holding elections to choose her successor in leadership of the party
Only six weeks after becoming prime minister, Liz Truss announced her resignation and the holding of elections next week to choose her successor, after facing one setback after another, leading to the resignation of the Minister of the Interior and the session last bustling in Parliament.
Immediately after her resignation, British Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer called for a general election.
“In the current situation, I cannot complete the task that the Conservative Party elected me to do,” she said in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in London.
Truss added, “Therefore, I spoke to His Majesty (Charles III) to inform him of my resignation from the presidency of the Conservative Party,” explaining that the process of choosing a successor for her “will be completed during the next week”.
Truss admitted Thursday that it had a “difficult day” on Wednesday, but stressed that the government must focus its efforts on its priorities.
Her spokesman said she wanted the government to focus more on “accomplishing priorities” and “less on politics”.
On Thursday morning, Truss met with the head of the “1922 Committee” in the conservative party in charge of internal organization.
Just six weeks after becoming prime minister, Truss was under pressure to resign after she was forced to cancel a disastrous tax cut plan that had caused a market strike in the midst of a severe cost-of-living crisis.
Shortly after the announcement of Truss’ resignation, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his hope that Britain would quickly restore stability.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Britain had “never experienced such disgrace from a prime minister”.
Thursday morning’s headlines were unanimously describing the situation as chaos, in the wake of a disastrous session in Westminster that turned into a bid market.
The Sun considered that Liz Truss has become broken, and “her authority is shattered after a day of total chaos,” noting that “a government is about to collapse before our eyes”.
For its part, the right-wing The Times newspaper considered that “the prime minister clings to power,” and quoted a supporter of Terrace in the government as saying, “The decision is final”.
Conservative Party member Ed Vaese said: “The only way out of this mess is for Liz Truss to step down and appoint Tory MPs as the new prime minister”.
The party can avoid a protracted leadership contest by agreeing on a figure, but Truss has no intention of stepping down.
Her resignation would open the way for a rivalry within the Conservative Party that could be shortened if party MPs agreed on an alternative to her, otherwise MPs could close ranks to cast their confidence in her.
