Liz Truss: Crawley MP Henry Smith issues statement on the resignation of the Prime Minister

Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

Ms Truss announced her immediate resignation as leader of the Conservative Party this (Thursday, October 20) afternoon. She will remain as Prime Minister until a successor is found.

Ms Truss resigned as Prime Minister just 44 days after taking over from Boris Johnson. She will be the shortest-serving PM in British history.

The new PM will be announced on Friday, October 28. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak and incumbent Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, are the two favourites to replace Ms Truss.

Prime Minister Liz Truss announces her resignation at Downing Street. Ms Truss has been the UK Prime Minister for just 44 days and has had a tumultuous time in office. Her mini-budget saw the GBP fall to its lowest-ever level against the dollar, increasing mortgage interest rates and deepening the cost-of-living crisis. Picture by Rob Pinney/Getty Images

In his statement, Mr Smith said: “It had become clear that the premiership of Liz Truss was no longer tenable, and yesterday evening I called publicly for the Prime Minister to stand down.

“It is right that, given the clear inability for the Prime Minister to enact her policy platform, she has resigned swiftly as Leader of the Conservative Party, and will tender her resignation as Prime Minister to HM King Charles as soon as a successor is appointed.

“I welcome clarification from the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the 1922 Committee that the upcoming Conservative Party leadership election is to be concluded swiftly. This is in recognition of the stark global challenges which are impacting us and remain a key priority for me as Member of Parliament for Crawley.

“In Parliament I look forward to working with colleagues to continue enacting the Conservative Party manifesto which I stood on at the last General Election.”