Outgoing UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss (Photo: Reuters)
Eko Hot Blog reports that Liz Truss resigned as Britain’s prime minister just six weeks into a disastrous term in terms of fiscal policies.
She announced her resignation in a short statement at Downing Street on Thursday.
Truss said that she “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,” she said.
Truss disclosed she has tendered her resignation to King Charles III, and a leadership election will take place within a week.
“I will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen,” she added.
Earlier, Truss met with the chair of the 1922 Committee of the backbench Conservatives, Graham Brady. The group decides whether to call a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.
Her resignation comes hours after Suella Braverman, her home secretary, dramatically resigned, launching an attack on the PM’s leadership.
Last week, Truss fired her finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, after a disastrous and since-ditched fiscal plan caused turmoil on the markets.
She had won support from Conservative members by promising low-tax, pro-growth policies but within weeks of coming to power, she ditched the plans in the wake of a market backlash.
Investors rejected an announcement by the Truss government in late September that it would slash taxes while ramping up borrowing in a bid to produce faster growth, citing concerns that the plan would push up inflation just as the Bank of England wants to bring it down.
Subsequently, the pound crashed to a record low against the US dollar, while bond prices slumped, sending yields soaring. That pushed mortgage rates much higher, and brought some pensions funds to the brink of default.
Truss’s resignation would make her, by some distance, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister ever.
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