Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

Liz Truss’s tenure as prime minister has ended in record time, and an accelerated leadership contest has been announced to replace her.

Truss said Thursday that she would step aside for a new leader to be chosen within the next week, after a growing number of her own Conservative Party's lawmakers said they could not support her any longer.

It brings to an ignominious end a catastrophic tenure in Downing Street, which appeared doomed ever since Truss's flagship economic agenda sent markets into panic and led to a fall in the value of the pound.

George Canning previously held the record for the shortest term in Downing Street, having served for 119 days until his death in 1827. Truss, by contrast, lasted a mere 45 days before she announced her intention to quit.

Her decision ensures a fresh power struggle within the ruling Conservative Party, which has hemorrhaged public support for the past year and has now overthrown Boris Johnson and Truss in the space of a few months.