Liz Truss has resigned, just six weeks after she was appointed prime minister of the United Kingdom.
“I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said Thursday morning, standing outside 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s residence, in London. “I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”
The prime minister’s resignation comes after weeks of criticism from her opponents and even members of her own party. Truss will likely be remembered as serving the shortest term as prime minister in U.K. history.
“Liz Truss’s resignation and disastrously short tenure is a lesson for all conservatives to never surrender to the Left,” Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, said in a statement. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
Truss backtracked on a series of tax cuts, which, according to Gardiner, was a concession to the political Left in the U.K. He said this ultimately weakened her position.
Gardiner said Truss’ failure as prime minister has placed Brexit at risk of failure.
In the face of mounting opposition, including attacks from the [International Monetary Fund] and President Biden, she failed to stand her ground, and now her own party and Brexit itself are in peril.
Liberal elites within the Conservative Party and the Westminster establishment are undermining the will of the British people. Britain’s next Conservative government must focus on securing the future of Brexit and British prosperity, by advancing economic liberty, protecting Britain’s borders, and standing up to the [European Union].
President Joe Biden thanked Truss on Twitter for her “partnership on a range of issues, including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.”
Biden promised America will “continue our close cooperation with the U.K. government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face.”
Other foreign policy experts, politicians, and political voices spoke out on the news in the hours after Truss’ resignation announcement.
Some political voices used sarcasm to mark the historic nature of Truss’ short tenure.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Truss’ predecessor, is expected to run in the Tory leadership race to replace Truss. Truss will remain in power until a successor is chosen.
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