Prime Minister announces resignation, with successor expected to be named by October 28th

Prime Minister Liz Truss has resigned from the post, with the Conservative Party expected to announce her replacement in an accelerated process to conclude by 28th October at the latest.

Liz Truss made the announcement at 1.30pm on 20th October outside 10 Downing Street, where she announced her intention to resign as leader of the Conservative Party, and to step down as Prime Minister once a successor is chosen. Her resignation, fewer than seven weeks since assuming the office, makes Liz Truss the UK’s shortest serving Prime Minister, beating previous recordholder George Canning, who died in office in August 1827 after taking on the role in April of the same year.

The resignation follows an eventful final days to her premiership for Liz Truss, which has seen her Chancellor replaced after a mini-budget was poorly received by financial markets, with the majority of her policies rolled back within weeks of their announcement by successor, Jeremy Hunt.The financial instability for the UK that has marked her time in office has been cited as the key reason for an expedited contest to select the new leader of the Conservative Party.

Sir Graham Brady, Leader of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs which governs processes to select new leaders of the Conservative Party, has confirmed a new leader will be selected by 28th October. MPs putting themselves on the ballot will require the support of at least 100 colleagues in Parliament, limiting the field to just three candidates. MPs will vote to narrow the field to two candidates, who will then be voted on by the wider party membership in an unprecedented online vote. If MPs can agree on a single candidate for leadership, no membership vote will take place, as happened following David Cameron’s resignation in 2016.

At time of writing, front runners expected to replace Liz Truss include the first and second runner-ups in the summer leadership contest, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt. Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister is also expected to make the ballot and remains a popular figure among Conservative Party members, despite stepping down after a series of scandals raised questions over his conduct in office.