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Twitter has exploded with memes and jokes mocking ousted Liz Truss as the Prime Minister quits amid the collapsing scenery of her chaotic Government after just 44 days in power.
Following her resignation, Ms Truss is set to become the shortest serving Prime Minister in history, after she lost the confidence of Tory MPs and the public, battled and lost an open revolt from Conservatives demanding her departure, and oversaw economic turbulence.
Now the frazzled Prime Minister is being ripped to shreds on Twitter as social media is flooded with hilarious memes.
Twitter has exploded with memes and jokes mocking ousted Liz Truss as the Prime Minister quits amid the collapsing scenery of her chaotic Government after just 44 days in power
Speaking from a lectern in Downing Street this afternoon, Ms Truss said she had told the King she was resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party as she recognised she ‘cannot deliver the mandate’ which Tory members gave her a little over six weeks ago.
She held talks with the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives, Sir Graham Brady, and agreed to a fresh leadership election ‘to be completed within the next week’.
‘This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plan and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security,’ she added, as she was accompanied by husband Hugh O’Leary.
‘I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.’
Her decision to resign will trigger a scramble among Tory leadership hopefuls who will face a daunting task to revive the party’s fortunes.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was quick to rule himself out as he focuses on calming the financial markets.
Front runners in the battle to replace Ms Truss include former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and current Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt.
This afternoon Sir Brady announced that Conservative MPs hoping to be put on the ballot for the next party leader would need to receive nominations from 100 of their colleagues.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson currently has the largest number of Tory MPs backing him
Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak is almost certain to stand and is running a close second to Mr Johnson tonight
Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt is in third place tonight with 12 MPs backing her
The 100 MP threshold means a maximum of three MPs can make it to the final vote.
This evening Mr Johnson is in an early lead with at least 38 Tories backing him. He is followed closely by Mr Sunak with 27 – Ms Mordaunt has 12.
Mr Johnson, however, is currently in the Caribbean and will need to scramble back to the UK to launch an effective campaign by 2pm on Monday when nominations will close.
Sir Graham Brady said that after talks with the board of the Conservative Party and the executive of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers that he chairs, nominations begin straight away and close at 2pm on Monday.
‘We fixed a high threshold but a threshold that should be achievable by any serious candidate who has a prospect of going through,’ he told reporters outside Parliament.
Sir Graham Brady MPs hoping to have their name on Monday’s ballot would need to have at least 100 nominations from their colleagues
Party chairman Sir Jake Berry said Conservative HQ will be working with broadcasters to arrange one broadcast event so members can hear from the final two candidates – if there are two – before they vote.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded a general election ‘now’ so that the nation can have ‘a chance at a fresh start’.
Without a general election, the Conservatives will be on their third prime minister on the mandate won by Boris Johnson in December 2019.
Sir Keir said: ‘The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern. The British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future. They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future.
‘We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.’
Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street
Prime Minister Liz Truss walking back inside No10 with her husband Hugh O’Leary
Ms Truss’s resignation came just a little over 24 hours after she told MPs she was ‘a fighter, not a quitter’.
But her odds of survival were slashed following chaotic scenes in the Commons after the resignation of Suella Braverman as home secretary.
The number of Tory MPs publicly demanding Ms Truss’s resignation doubled before lunch was over on Thursday, taking the total to 15, but a far greater number were privately agitating for her exit.
The pound lifted on the resignation announcement following another volatile 24 hours for the currency amid political turmoil.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘We don’t need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis. We need a general election now and the Conservatives out of power.’
Ms Truss had summoned Sir Graham to Downing Street for a hastily-arranged meeting on Thursday morning, with sources saying she was ‘taking the temperature’ of the Tory Party.
What Sir Graham told her was unclear, but she was left realising her time was up. ‘The statement was the result’ of their conversation, a source confirmed.
Ms Truss’s 44 days in office falls months behind the next shortest premiership of Tory statesman George Canning, who spent 118 full days as PM in 1827 before dying in office.
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