Liz Truss resigns after 45 days of tenure; becomes shortest-serving PM in UK's history

The United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation today (October 20) after a tenure of just 45 days.

There will be a leadership election to be completed in the next week.

This will ensure 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.

— Liz Truss (@trussliz) October 20, 2022

She had to announce her resignation after an economic programme by the government shattered investors' confidence and enraged the Conservative Party members.

Shortest serving UK PM: By resigning today, Truss also became the shortest-serving Prime Minister in UK's history. Truss's resignation is the third one by a Conservative Prime Minister in as many years. Just a day earlier, she had vowed to stay in power, saying she was “a fighter and not a quitter.”

What she said: In her speech outsidethe 10 Downing Street, Truss announced her resignation and said that a leadership election will be held within the next week. She also said that she had spoken with Graham Brady, the head of the 1922 Committee.

“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," she said.

Truss said she would remain the Prime Minister until a successor is chosen.

Liz Truss has become the shortest serving prime minister in history, beating previous record holder George Canning who *died of tuberculosis* 119 days into the job

— James Felton (@JimMFelton) October 20, 2022

The debacle of Liz Truss’ short-lived premiership is a symptom of a broken economic system and a trashed democracy.

We will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis — and ordinary people will pay the price — until we finally build a society for the many, not the few.

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 20, 2022

Why she resigned:

• Truss and her former Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng had unveiled a fiscal package last month that sent shockwaves through financial markets and divided her Conservative Party and members had been demanding her resignation since then. 
• Looking at the response to her “mini-budget”, she replaced Kwasi Kwartengwith with Conservative leader Jeremy Hunt. This again fumed the MPs who were demanding her resignation. 
• The turmoil and demand for her resignation increased and by today morning, more than a dozen Conservative MPs had publicly urged Truss to resign.