Truss resigns, Sunak favourite to take over

Liz Truss has announced her resignation as prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party.

In doing so, she becomes the shortest-serving prime minister in history with her reign having ended after just 45 days.

Resigning from her post, Truss said “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party”.

This comes after weeks of political and economic upheaval, much of which in the wake of former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget which drastically cut taxes, sending the pound spiralling and the markets into panic.

A leadership contest will ensue over the coming days – and Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out of the running.

An Oddschecker poll has former Chancellor Rishi Sunak – who lost the previous leadership race to Liz Truss – as the favourite with a 36% chance of taking over, with Penny Mordaunt, Ben Wallace, and Boris Johnson behind him with 18%, 9%, and 7% chances respectively.

A result of the contest is expected by Friday.

Yet, whoever comes out on top will have the unenviable task of stabilising a ship which is currently rocking with ferocity.

According to Labour leader Keir Starmer, it is a ship which has already sunk and no longer has a mandate to govern. “They do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment – Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish,” he said. “We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.”

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