Truss announces resignation after just six weeks as Prime Minister

Keir Starmer has called for a general election, arguing that the Tories “cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top” as Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister.

In a statement delivered from Downing Street this afternoon, Truss revealed that she would be stepping down following a tumultuous premiership – rocked by her controversial ‘mini-Budget’ and culminating in the departure of her Chancellor last week, a large backbench rebellion and the sacking of the Home Secretary.

“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,” Truss said.

“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.”

She told the public that she had met with the chairman of the 1922 committee and that a Tory leadership election will conclude “within the next week” to pick her successor, with Truss to remain in place until the contest is completed.

Commenting on Truss’ resignation, Keir Starmer said “the Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern” and argued that “the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos”.

“Over the past few years, the Tories have set record-high taxation, trashed our institutions and created a cost-of-living crisis. Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 a month extra on their mortgages. The damage they have done will take years to fix,” the Labour leader said.

“Each one of these crises was made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each one has left our country weaker and worse off.”

Starmer said that the Conservatives “cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people” and declared that “they do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment”.

“Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish. The British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future,” he said.

“They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future. We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.”