Liz Truss has announced she is resigning as Prime Minister after just weeks in the job.

After insisting on Wednesday she is a “fighter, not a quitter”, a growing number of her MPs had said she should reconsider her stance – after a series of humiliating U-turns already.

Liz Truss apologises for mistakes made as Prime Minister

Liz Truss statement today

With her husband Hugh O’Leary alongside her, Liz Truss said: “I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability.

“Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills.”

Vladimir Putin’s “illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent”.

She said the UK had been “held back for too long by low economic growth”.

Speaking in Downing Street, she said: “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 plan and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security.

“I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.

“Thank you.”