Liz Truss made history this morning when she resigned from office, becoming the shortest-serving British Prime Minister after just 44 days in office.
Bowing to pressure from her own ministers to resign, her shock exit comes amid a disastrous start to her leadership characterised by plummeting opinion polls and financial turmoil following her government’s mini-budget.
Speaking outside the Prime Minister’s office in London, Truss, who became Prime Minister after Boris Johnson was forced out on September 6 this year, said she could not deliver on the promises she had made whilst running for party leader and that she had lost the faith of her party.
"I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party"
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 20, 2022
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resignshttps://t.co/O5kO1WJ4tY pic.twitter.com/Gq6FtOGNIP
Her resignation has left a divided Conservative Party with the challenge of choosing Britain’s third Prime Minister in a matter of months amid growing calls for a general election.
Truss’ statement outside Number 10 Downing Street lasted less than two minutes.
She did not take questions but revealed she had notified King Charles III in a telephone conversation that she was standing down as Conservative leader and a new Prime Minister would be chosen next week.
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the meeting of the European Council in Brussels, Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said he had been informed of Truss’ resignation, but had not read her statements and could not take a stance on the issue.
However, he added that Greece: “always supported a productive relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, and I hope that this political instability afflicting the United Kingdom for a while now finally comes to an end.”
Έχει έρθει η ώρα να πάρουμε ευρωπαϊκές αποφάσεις για την αντιμετώπιση του υψηλού κόστους ενέργειας που απασχολεί τις ευρωπαϊκές κοινωνίες. Να επιβάλουμε πλαφόν στην τιμή του φυσικού αερίου, στο επίπεδο του TTF, ώστε να δώσουμε απάντηση σε όσους εργαλειοποιούν την ενέργεια. #EUCO pic.twitter.com/veSWLJK8ks
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) October 20, 2022
In less diplomatic tones were the reactions of Russia’s foreign ministry who welcomed the departure, saying Truss was a “disgrace” of a leader that would be remembered for her “catastrophic illiteracy”.
“Britain has never known such a disgrace as Prime Minister,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said that Washington will continue close cooperation with Britain, adding: “I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.”
“We will continue our close cooperation with the UK government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face,” Biden added in his official statement.
Not dissimilar to Mitsotakis were the sentiments of French President Emmanuel Macron, who wished Britain a rapid return to stability.
“It is important that Great Britain regains political stability very quickly, and that is all I wish,” Macron said whilst arriving at the EU Summit.
