UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announces resignation after 44 days in Office, says she is unable to fulfill mandate

British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation Thursday after six turbulent weeks in office, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.

Truss said a new prime minister will be selected by her Conservative Party lawmakers in the coming week — but the process by which the decision will be made remains unclear at this stage. The party is bitterly divided by warring centrist and right-wing factions, and there is no clear consensus candidate to take over. “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said.

Her resignation follows weeks of political and economic crisis, after the government introduced a new “mini-budget” which was roundly criticized.

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has called for a general election. The Conservative Party, then under the leadership of Boris Johnson, won a large majority in the last general election in 2019.