After Six Weeks, UK Premier Liz Truss Resigns

Weeks after taking over as the Prime Minister of Britain and successor to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss has resigned.

Truss announced her resignation on Thursday amid calls from within her Conservative Party to step down from the top job six weeks after she entered 10, Downing Street. Truss’s resignation was highly anticipated after her policies triggered massive economic turmoil, and backlash from several quarters.

In an address, Truss conceded that she could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected adding that a leadership contest would take place within the next week.

 “I recognise that given the situation; I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party,” Truss said.

Truss, who assumed office on Sept. 6, sacked her finance minister and closest political ally, Kwarteng, and abandoned almost all her economic programme, which led to the pound crashing.

On Wednesday, Truss lost the second of the government’s four most senior ministers, faced mockery as she tried to defend her record to parliament and saw her lawmakers openly quarrel over policy, deepening the sense of chaos at Westminster.

Truss’s resignation comes at a time when Britain’s fiscal reputation has hit a rock bottom with the economy heading into recession and inflation at a 40-year high.

Below is the full text of her speech in Downing Street:

“I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills, Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent and our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth.

“I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this. We delivered on energy bills and on cutting National Insurance. And we set out a vision for a low tax, high growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.

“I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.

“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 plans and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security.

“I will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen. Thank you.”