Liz Truss has resigned as Prime Minister after less than 50 days in charge.
The MP for South West Norfolk succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader on September 5 after defeating former Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the bitter leadership race.
She took over from Johnson a day later after he tendered his resignation to the Queen at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire.
Her resignation came after Truss was "taking the temperature" of Tory MPs with the chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady in Downing Street.
The number of her own MPs demanding her resignation doubled within just a couple of hours to a dozen after the chaotic scenes in the Commons that followed the loss of a Cabinet minister.
Calls for Truss to resign intensified over the course of Thursday morning with six Tories - Sir Gary Streeter, Sheryll Murray, Miriam Catets, Steve Double, Henry Smith and Matthew Offord - adding their voices to the eight others.
As Conservatives wondered how long she would remain in power, Truss acknowledged a "difficult day" in her premiership but insisted she wanted to push on, her official spokesman said.
Speaking from a lectern in Downing Street, Ms Truss said she had told the King she was resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party as she recognised she "cannot deliver the mandate" which Tory members gave her little over six weeks ago.
She held talks with the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives Sir Graham Brady and agreed to a fresh leadership election "to be completed within the next week".
"This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plan and maintain our country's economic stability and national security," she added, as she was accompanied by husband Hugh O'Leary. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen."
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded a general election "now" so that the nation can have "a chance at a fresh start".
Her resignation came just a little over 24 hours after she told MPs she was a "fighter, not a quitter".
Earlier in the day Labour leader Keir Starmer said the country needed an election. He told the TUC conference: "Britain deserves better, Britain cannot afford the chaos of the Conservatives any more, we need a general election now.
"Never again can Britain take seriously their claim to be a party of aspiration or sound money."
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