Liz Truss has just announced her resignation and says there will be a new prime minister within the next week.
This comes after weeks of inner party conflict, including a mini budget U-turn and multiple sackings in her cabinet.
In her resigning speech she said: “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.”
The second shortest attempt at premiership was George Canning, who lasted 118 days before he died suddenly in 1827.
We spoke to women in Sheffield just five minutes after the resignation to get their opinions on her brief leadership.
Jess Amis said: “I think her lack of loyalty to a singular party throughout her career and then all the promises that she’s made and gone back on, it didn’t really give me much confidence.”
Speaking on Liz Truss as the third female prime minister, Miss Amis said: “It’s really upsetting because as much as I want to have a woman prime minister, like New Zealand, Finland and Germany have, all of our options have come from the conservative party, and I don’t think they really focus enough on what it means to be a woman in such a powerful position.”
Radha, who didn’t want to include her surname, said: “I honestly didn’t even know that she had resigned! I think it could be both her incompetence and the fact she’s a woman that has led to this. Whilst she deserves a lot of criticism, her being a woman definitely doesn’t help.”
As leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer has made his stance known, saying: “Britain can’t afford the Tories’ chaos. General Election, now.”
