Prime Minister Liz Truss has confirmed that she will be resigning as Prime Minister after just six weeks in the role.
This morning Sir Graham Brady, the Chair of the Conservative’s powerful 1922 Committee, met with the outgoing Prime Minister.
It was then announced that a statement would be made at 13:30 from the Prime Minister. Much sooner than commentators had speculated.
In that statement, the Prime Minister confirmed that she would be stepping down but will remain in a caretaker role until a replacement is appointed.
She said there will be a leadership election “to be completed within the next week”.
As of 13:30 16 Tory MPs had openly called for Truss to quit following her chaotic tenure as Prime Minister so far.
That included the botched mini-Budget which plunged the UK into economic turmoil. That led to the sacking of then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
Yesterday, the Home Secretary resigned before the chaos extended to Parliament with the fumbled confidence vote which led to accusations of bullying.
Just yesterday Truss had told Parliament she was a “fighter, not a quitter”.
Rishi Sunak, Penny Mourdant and Ben Wallace have all been linked with taking over from Truss.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out of the race.
Reaction
Simon Webb, managing director finance and capital markets at LiveMore Capital:
“The resignation of Liz Truss throws the country into further turmoil just as the markets were starting to settle down.
“The term “we need a grown up in charge” has been somewhat over-used in the past couple of days, but the sentiment is true if what it means is that we need competence and stability.
“At least the Conservative party has pledged to elect the new leader within the week so the period of uncertainty will be limited.
“What we need then are sensible, sound fiscal policies that run through to the next general election, to reassure the markets and give the country and the rest of the world the confidence that the UK is still a sound place to invest and do business.
“Of utmost urgency for every mortgage holder is the need to see interest rates and the cost of living stabilise so that they can budget for their futures.”
