British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned on Thursday after just six weeks in office.
Truss’s resignation came after 44 days, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in U.K. history. Her successor will be the third prime minister to lead Britain this year.
Speaking outside her official residence at No. 10 Downing St., Truss said that she had met with the chairman of the 1922 Committee — a group of senior Conservative lawmakers — and agreed to hold a leadership election “within the next week.”
“This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security,” she added.
Following her resignation, President Biden said in a statement that “the United States and the United Kingdom are strong Allies and enduring friends — and that fact will never change.”
He thanked Truss “for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine,” and said the U.S. “will continue our close cooperation with the U.K. government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face.”
The prime minister’s resignation comes just one day after her home secretary, Suella Braverman, handed in her resignation after she breached ministerial rules by sending an official document to another lawmaker from her personal email. In her resignation letter, Braverman appeared to take aim at the prime minister, stating that she had “concerns about the direction of this government.”
Last week, Truss fired her closest ally, Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, whose monetary policies caused immediate chaos in financial markets with the Bank of England forced to step in.
The £45 billion ($50.4 billion) “mini-budget” to cut taxes, even for the wealthiest in the country, caused economic fallout and the pound to plummet.
In a bid to counteract the economic downturn and a mounting Conservative Party revolt, Truss reversed cuts that had been set out in the mini-budget.
Speaking about the U-turn, she said, “Parts of our mini-budget went further and faster” than the markets had expected. She continued that she was still determined to achieve “what I promised — to deliver a higher-growth, more prosperous United Kingdom to see us through the storm we face.”
Below is the full text of her speech in Downing Street:
“I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills, Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent and our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth.
“I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this. We 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.
“I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
“This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. We’ve agreed that there will be a leadership election, to be completed within the next week. This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security.
“I will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen. Thank you.”
