British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday after just six weeks in office, following a disastrous and rapidly reversed economic plan that sent the pound plunging and her government into chaos.
Thursday’s development came after her new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, rolled back virtually all of her economic agenda.
Hunt’s move was supposed to be an impetus for growth, but it became Truss’s declaration of political bankruptcy.
Speaking outside Downing Street, she said she had told King Charles she was resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
In front of dozens of reporters, she said she came into office at a time of “great economic and international instability”.
She added: “I recognise… given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”
Having been formally appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 6, Truss is now by far the shortest-serving prime minister in British history and will be remembered as one of the most calamitous.
The previous holder of this record, George Canning, lasted 119 days in the early 19th century; Truss will serve about 50.
A leadership contest to decide the next leader of the ruling Conservative Party, who will by default become the next prime minister, is now underway and will conclude in the next week. The opposition Labour Party called for an immediate election.