In a brief statement delivered outside her office at 10 Downing Street, Truss laid out the headwinds facing her leadership, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to more general economic stability.
She said she had tried to deliver on the “vision for a low-tax high-growth economy” that saw her triumph over former chancellor Rishi Sunak in a summer leadership challenge.
“Given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said.
“I have therefore spoken to his majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”
She said a leadership election would be completed within the next week and she would stay on as prime minister until a successor was chosen.
Truss announced her resignation just after 1.30pm on Thursday (11.30pm AEDT) after a meeting with the head of the 1922 Committee, a group of backbench MPs that manages Conservative Party leadership challenges.
The meeting came after more than a dozen Tory MPs sent letters to the committee confirming their lack of support for the prime minister, and followed a day of chaos in Westminster and weeks of political and financial tumult prompted by Truss’s failed £45 billion ($80.4 billion) tax cut package.
A little more than 24 hours earlier, Truss had refused to heed a chorus of opposition calls to resign, telling the Parliament she was a “fighter, not a quitter”.
‘It’s beyond hyperbole’: UK politicians react
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, an outspoken critic of Truss and the Conservative party, said a general election was “now a democratic imperative”.
“There are no words to describe this utter shambles adequately,” the Scottish National Party leader said, on Twitter.
“It’s beyond hyperbole — and parody.
“Reality tho (sic) is that ordinary people are paying the price.
“The interests of the Tory party should concern no-one right now.”
Opposition Leader Keir Starmer has repeatedly called for a general election to be held.
“Britain can’t afford the Tories’ chaos,” he tweeted, in the hours before Truss’ resignation.
“My Labour government will provide the stability and leadership needed.”
French president calls for political stability
French president Emmanuel Macron said it was important for Britain to quickly find political stability, according to translations from several Europe-based journalists.
Truss’s replacement will become the third UK prime minister this year, and the second to take office without a general election, after Boris Johnson quit following a series of scandals.
George Canning currently holds the title of the country’s shortest-serving prime minister, having served for about five months in 1827.
The focus in Westminster will immediately turn to Truss’s successor, with a clear favourite yet to emerge.
Contenders mentioned widely include Sunak, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Johnson.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who ripped up “almost all” of the prime minister’s tax agenda days after replacing close Truss ally Kwasi Kwarten, will not contend for the leadership, according to multiple Westminster journalists.
In a summer leadership contest that lasted longer than Truss’s premiership, she finished second to Sunak on votes by Tory MPs before winning the crucial poll of some 170,000 Conservative Party members.
There has been a lot of talk about how parliamentarians could prevent a repeat situation, particularly given the tight timeframe set for the latest leadership election.
Brady, the head of the powerful backbench committee, said two candidates would be sent to the members for voting “unless there is only one candidate”.
That would leave room for contenders to agree for whoever finishes second among MP votes to drop out of the contest.
Crises that have rocked Boris Johnson’s government
“I think we’re deeply conscious of the imperative and the national interest of resolving this clearly and quickly,” Brady said.
