Liz Truss has resigned as the United Kingdom's leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister after just 44 days.
The groundbreaking announcement makes Truss the shortest-serving PM in the UK's history.
Truss made the announcement on Thursday afternoon outside Number 10 Downing Street.
During her address, Truss told reporters - and the nation - that she entered office during a time of "great economic and international instability". However, she added: "I recognize - given the situation - I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party."
She then announced that she has spoken to King Charles III and would be resigning as leader of the Conservative party, and therefore as UK Prime Minister.
She also announced that she had also met with 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady today, and confirmed that a leadership contest will take place next week for the Tory party.
Truss will remain as PM until a new leader is elected.
This also means that the UK will have had three prime ministers in the year of 2022 - an unprecedented statistic.
The news comes as more and more Conservative MPs spoke out against Truss - with Hazel Grove MP William Wragg revealing on Wednesday that he wanted to submit a vote of no confidence in Truss.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Wragg said: "If I vote as I would wish, then I would lose the whip. I would no longer be vice chair of the 1922 committee. I would no longer maintain a position as a chair of one of the select committees of the House.
"And indeed, because of that, my letter lodged with my honorable friend, the member for Altrincham and Sale West [Brady], would fall, and I wish to maintain that letter with my honorable friend."
Additionally, earlier today, it was reported by ITV News that Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer said she had "no confidence in the competence" of the Prime Minister.
Truss - who took over from Boris Johnson at the start of September - announced plans to generate UK economic growth by cutting taxes not long after arriving in Number 10.
However, after her newly appointed chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced a "mini-budget" to slash taxes, the pound fell to an all-time record low on September 26 - dropping by almost 5% overnight, The Guardian reports.
Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg earlier this month, Truss pointed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as the reason for the mini-budget, saying: "This is a global problem. You have got [Vladimir] Putin’s war in Ukraine, the aftermath of Covid. What is happening around the world is that interest rates are rising."
"I’m afraid there is an issue that interest rates are going up around the world and we do have to face that," the PM added, per The Independent.
Eventually, Kwarteng announced last week that he had been fired from his role as
"You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted," Kwarteng said in a letter to Truss, which he later shared on Twitter.
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