BBC News 20 October 2022
- Prime Minister Liz Truss has resigned as UK prime minister in a statement outside Downing Street
- She said she could not deliver the mandate she was elected and had notified the King that she was resigning as Tory leader
- There will be Conservative leadership election to be completed within the next week, she says
- It comes after she met the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs as more Tories called for her to quit
- Truss's premiership came under renewed pressure after the home secretary resigned and a chaotic vote on fracking
- There was fury on Wednesday evening around the vote and the methods used to get MPs to vote with the government
Here's the full statement Liz Truss delivered outside Downing Street confirming her resignation as prime minister.
I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills.
Putin's illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent. And our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth.
I was elected by the Conservative party with a mandate to change this. We delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance. And we 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.
I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. We've agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week.
This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country's economic stability and national security.
I will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen.
Thank you
