(BBC) Liz Truss has dramatically resigned as prime minister after just 45 days in the job.
Tory MPs urged Ms Truss to go after her government was engulfed by political turmoil, following the ditching of most of her economic policies.
Her resignation comes after a key minister quit and Tory MPs rebelled in a chaotic parliamentary vote.
Ms Truss was elected by the Tory membership in September, but she lost authority after a series of U-turns.
In front of dozens of reporters she says she came into office at a time of “great economic and international instability”.
She added: “I recognise… given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”
She met with 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady today. They agreed there will be a leadership election within the next week, adding that she will remain as prime minister until a successor is chosen.
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 after dying 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.
What is happening. This is unprecedented. What a whirlwind. I hope that the next person who is chosen would meet the great expectations of the relevant authorities