Liz Truss announced today that she will step down as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party.
It means that a leadership election will be triggered from next week just 24 hours after she declared to the country that she's a "fighter, not a quitter". One of the hallmarks of Truss' extremely short and controversial premiership is the weeks of turmoil she has caused to the markets.
Following the announcement of her mini-Budget just a few weeks ago, the markets were sent into a frenzy, plunging the pound to its lowest-ever record against the dollar and quickly calling into question the economic policies of the now-former government. After a series of astonishing U-turns on her tax cuts, Ms Truss admitted today (Thursday) that she "cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party."
Read more: LIVE: Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister - latest updates
However, she added: "We delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance. We set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.”
Despite her claims that she aimed to improve the economy, it seems the only way she did this was through her resignation. Shortly before her speech, the pound shot up to 1.13 US dollars while increasing slightly afterwards to stand 0.4 per cent higher at 1.126 US dollars.
One of the UK's top business groups, which represents 190,000 firms, warned that the next Prime Minster must restore trust which Ms Truss lost after only 44 days in office. Tony Danker, director-general of the CBI, said: “The politics of recent weeks have undermined the confidence of people, businesses, markets and global investors in Britain.
"That must now come to an end if we are to avoid yet more harm to households and firms. Stability is key. The next prime minister will need to act to restore confidence from day one.
“They will need to deliver a credible fiscal plan for the medium term as soon as possible, and a plan for the long-term growth of our economy.”
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