UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss has resigned after 45 days (six weeks) in office. Her time in office has been dominated by market chaos prompted by the mini-budget that was announced by former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last month.
Some Tory MPs had publicly called for her resignation, but many others had privately suggested her time was up, Sky News reports.
While Conservative Party rules prevent a challenge in the first 12 months of a new leader’s tenure, it was reported that a significant number of MPs had written to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee, to make clear they had lost confidence in the PM.
On Monday, new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the government would be cutting the energy price guarantee back to six months from the two years previously promised and abandoning the planned 1p reduction to the basic rate of income tax.
The announcement was widely seen as the complete upheaval of Ms Truss’s economic programme, central to her leadership bid.
After Mr Hunt’s statement, the prime minister’s official spokesman refused to deny that Ms Truss was about to resign, instead saying she was “working very closely” with the new chancellor.
On Tuesday, Ms Truss sent House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt to answer an urgent question in the Commons tabled by Labour on the sacking of Mr Kwarteng.
Ms Mordaunt denied to MPs that Ms Truss was hiding “under a desk”.
On Wednesday, interior minister Suella Braverman also resigned from office after sending an official document from her personal email.
This is considered a “technical infringement” of government rules.
Grant Shapps, a former transport minister has been appointed as her replacement.
“I have made a mistake, I accept responsibility; I resign,” she said in a letter to Prime Minister Liz Truss posted on Twitter.
Braverman also took a swipe at Liz Truss’ government, saying she had “serious concerns about the direction of this government”.
Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this Government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration, particularly the dangerous small boats crossings,” she added.
Truss has faced opposition from her own Conservative Party over her botched economic plan.
During a session of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Truss apologised to Parliament and admitted she had made mistakes during her short tenure as the UK’s head of government.
But while she was talking, some lawmakers urged her to resign. She insisted that she is “a fighter and not a quitter”. “I have acted in the national interest to make sure that we have economic stability,” she said.
