Liz Truss resignation: Tory PM hopefuls need backing of 100 MPs by Monday to enter race

Summary

Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party
Speaking outside Downing Street, she said she could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected
It kickstarts a contest to find the next Tory leader and PM - hopefuls need to get the backing of 100 MPs by Monday afternoon
If there are two candidates, the Tory membership will get to vote again, and a winner will be picked by Friday
The newly-appointed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt rules himself out. But Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt are seen as contenders
Sources close to former PM Boris Johnson do not confirm or deny speculation he will stand again
Truss's resignation after 45 days in office makes her the shortest-serving PM in UK history
Her now-abandoned September mini-budget started the turmoil; a chaotic night in the Commons on Wednesday sealed her fate

Live Reporting

Edited by Andrew Humphrey

Tories no longer have a mandate to govern - Starmerpublished at 14:00 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Liz Truss walks into Downing St with her husband after resigning
A bit more reaction from Sir Keir Starmer now and his calls for an immediate general election.
The Labour leader says: "The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern.
"After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos."
He says the Conservatives have left the country "weaker and worse off".
"The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people.
"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.
"We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election - now."
A look back at Liz Truss's premiershippublished at 13:59 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Image source, .
Mordaunt will 'keep calm and carry on'published at 13:51 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Commons leader and former Tory party leadership contender Penny Mordaunt says she will "keep calm and carry on" and encourages others to do the same.
Hunt not running to be PMpublished at 13:48 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Breaking
Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed he will not stand to be the next Conservative leader and UK prime minister.
WATCH: The moment Truss resigns as prime ministerpublished at 13:47 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Moments ago, Liz Truss announced she was resigning as prime minister, making her the shortest serving PM in UK history.
Watch the moment she made the announcement above.
Muted response on markets to resignationpublished at 13:45 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
There has been a muted response on the markets after Liz Truss announced she was resigning as prime minister.
The pound rose initially in the immediate aftermath of the statement before settling back at around $1.12.
Before she delivered her statement, one analyst said the markets were "watching in a kind of stunned, open-mouthed horror" at political events.
Truss the briefest serving PM in UK historypublished at 13:44 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Liz Truss has been in office for just 45 days - the shortest tenure of any UK prime minister. The second shortest serving PM was George Canning, who served for 119 days before he died in office in 1827.
Trouble began when her first Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, spooked the financial markets with his mini-budget on 23 September.
Since then, Conservative disquiet has morphed into widespread anger within the parliamentary party.
Her stepping down today follows dramatic scenes in the House of Commons last night over a vote on fracking. Calls for her to go kept growing in the hours afterwards.
Starmer demands election as Truss quitspublished at 13:43 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Labour leader Keir Starmer has demanded a general election "now" after Liz Truss announced her resignation as prime minister.
An unprecedented crisis in British politicspublished at 13:40 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent
Image source, PA Media
I've never seen anything like this. Let's be clear what's happened: yesterday Truss told us she was a fighter.
But the level of chaos in government, Parliament and the Conservative Party has led Truss to a point where she knows she can't continue.
What happens now is the quickest turnover of power we have seen in modern times.
This is a lightning speed change. The question is whether the Conservative Party can coalesce around a new leader and whether the party can avoid a general election.
In October we are going to have our third PM of the year.
This is an unprecedented situation and an unprecedented short tenure as PM and an unprecedented crisis in British politics.
Leadership contest will take place within the next week - Trusspublished at 13:36 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Image source, Robert Timothy/ BBC
Liz Truss goes on to say that she met with 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady today.
They agreed there will be a leadership election within the next week.
She says this will ensure "that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country's economic stability and national security".
Truss says she will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen.
Truss says she cannot deliver mandatepublished at 13:36 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Liz Truss is continuing her statement outside Number 10.
In front of dozens of reporters she says she came into office at a time of "great economic and international instability".
The country had been held back by low economic growth for too long, she says, and she was elected by her party with a "mandate to change this".
She says her government delivered on energy bills and cutting national insurance, and had set out a vision for a "low tax high growth economy".
She adds: "I recognise... given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party."
Truss announces her resignation as prime ministerpublished at 13:34 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Breaking
Image source, Reuters
Liz Truss has announced her resignation as prime minister.
Speaking outside Downing Street, she says she has told King Charles she is resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
Prime minister begins her statementpublished at 13:33 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Liz Truss has walked out of the door of Downing Street and is now addressing the country.
Lectern is outpublished at 13:25 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Image source, Getty Images
Ahead of Liz Truss's statement the official lectern has been wheeled outside Number 10.
We are still expecting the prime minister to make her statement in the next few moments.
Downing Street statement from Liz Truss expected at 13:30published at 13:19 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Breaking
We've just had it confirmed that there will be a statement given at Downing Street in about 10 minutes.
We're expecting the prime minister to speak.
It comes as more and more MPs have called for her to step down, and after a meeting with senior Tory party figures.
Another MP calls for Liz Truss to resignpublished at 13:18 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Ruth Edwards, the Conservative MP for Rushcliffe, has become the latest MP to call on the prime minister to go.
In a letter published on ConservativeHome, external, she says it is "not responsible for the party to allow her to remain in power".
She also urged the PM to "step aside, go, and let someone who is up to the task take on the great privilege and responsibility of leading our great country and party".
What's the latest from Westminster?published at 13:17 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Pressure is mounting on Liz Truss as the number of Tory MPs calling for her to go has risen since a difficult day in Westminster yesterday.
This morning the number of MPs publicly calling for the prime minister to go has more than doubled within the space of a couple of hours.
Many are wondering how long Truss can go on after the chaotic scenes in the House of Commons last night - some MPs alleged bullying happened during a fracking motion vote.
This all followed PMQs and the resignation of Suella Braverman as home secretary.
Truss has been speaking to 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady in Downing Street for the best part of an hour.
The pair have been joined in Number 10 by Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey and Tory Party chairman Jake Berry.
Stay with us this afternoon as we keep you updated.
Hartlepool MP submits letter of no confidencepublished at 13:09 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Image source, PA Media
Another Tory MP has submitted a public letter of no confidence in Liz Truss.
Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer, who was elected in a by-election in 2021, shared an image on her Facebook page.
She wrote: "Yesterday, I tried to get called in PMQs to ask Liz Truss for an assurance of support for our town and our promises.
"Sadly I was not called and the deteriorating situation throughout the day left me with no choice but to submit a letter of no confidence in the prime minister to Sir Graham Brady."
More than a dozen MPs have publicly called for the prime minister to resign.
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In pictures: 24 hours of turmoilpublished at 13:01 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
Image source, PA Media
Image caption,
A defiant Liz Truss on Wednesday at the dispatch box during Prime Minister's Questions, where she insisted: "I'm a fighter, not a quitter"
Image source, Getty
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Later Grant Shapps was seen leaving Downing Street as he made his return to cabinet as the new home secretary
Image source, Chris Bryant
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Labour MP Chris Bryant claims he saw "clear bullying" as whips tried to get Conservative MPs to back Liz Truss in a vote on fracking on Wednesday evening - he shared this picture on Twitter
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Backbench Tory MP Charles Walker was visibly angry as he told the BBC he was "livid" and there was "no coming back" for the government
Image source, Reuters
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Chief Whip Wendy Morton arrives in Downing Street on Thursday - there was confusion on Wednesday evening over whether she had resigned, but she was eventually confirmed to still be in post
Image source, Political Pictures
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Later, the chair of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, the senior Tory MP responsible for establishing if a Conservative leader has the confidence of the party, walked into Downing Street for talks with the prime minister
Who is in Downing Street?published at 12:58 British Summer Time 20 October 2022
It's been another hectic morning in Downing Street.
We know that Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 Committee, is in Downing Street meeting Liz Truss at the prime minister's request (according to Downing Street sources).
He arrived at about 11:40 BST.
At about 12:25 Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey arrived in Downing Street and in the last few moments Tory Party chairman Jake Berry has also been seen entering Number 10.