UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after six weeks in office

LONDON — Thursday, U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after her failed plan to cut taxes shook the financial markets and caused a revolt within her own Conservative Party.

Truss said in a statement outside Downing Street, “We laid out a plan for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.”

“I know, though, that I can’t do what the Conservative Party elected me to do because of the situation. So, I told His Majesty the King that I was giving up my position as leader of the Conservative Party.

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The party will have a leadership election next week, which is much faster than the usual two-month time frame. Graham Brady, a Conservative politician in charge of leadership votes and reshuffles, told reporters that he was now looking into how Conservative MPs and other party members could participate in the vote.

Truss was prime minister for only 44 days, making her the prime minister with the shortest time in office in British history. After Queen Elizabeth II died, government work stopped for 10 days during her time as prime minister.

Her resignation happened after she met with Brady, who is the head of the 1922 Committee. The 1922 Committee is made up of Conservative MPs who are not ministers and can send letters of no confidence to the prime minister.

A spokesperson for Downing Street told reporters right before the meeting that Truss wanted to stay in office.

In the hour that the meeting lasted, 17 MPs called for Truss to step down in public. By Thursday, it was said that more than 100 people had written to Brady to say they did not trust the prime minister.

An hour after the news, trading was at $1.1273, which was a session high for a short time. It stays where it was on September 22, before Truss’ budget changed the market. After Truss’ short speech, the yields on 30-year, 10-year, and 5-year gilts (UK government bonds) went down by about 5 basis points.

The pound goes up after Truss quits.