Elizabeth Truss
London/Washington: British Prime Minister Elizabeth (Liz) Truss today resigned from her post on grounds that she cannot deliver the mandate on which she was elected by the Conservative Party. She will remain as Prime Minister until a successor is chosen. Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt who were contenders for the post earlier this year are among the favourites again, according to media reports.
Speaking outside her 10 Downing Street office, Liz Truss said she came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. “Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent. And our country had been held back for too long by low economic growth,” she said adding that she was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this.
She though claimed her government delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance. “And we set out a vision for a low tax, high growth economy – that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit,” she added.
She said she spoke to King Charles III to notify him that she was resigning as Leader of the Conservative Party.
Truss also met the Chair of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady in the morning. They agreed there will be a leadership election to be completed in the next week which will ensure they remain on a path to deliver their fiscal plans and maintain Britain’s economic stability and national security.
Meanwhile, reacting to her resignation, American President Joe Biden described her as a “good partner on Russia and Ukraine”. To a question on whether she did the right thing by resigning, Biden said that’s for her to decide. “But, look, she was a good partner on Russia and Ukraine. And — and the British are going to solve their problem,” he reiterated.
Elizabeth Truss was appointed Prime Minister on September 6, 2022. She was previously Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs from September 15, 2021. She was appointed Minister for Women and Equalities on September 10, 2019. She was elected as the Conservative MP for southwest Norfolk in 2010.
– global bihari bureau
