"I can't fulfill the mandate": Liz Truss resigns as prime minister
London (CNN) --
The resignation of Liz Truss on Thursday, after six weeks of a disastrous term, launched a new race to be the next leader of the Conservative Party.
A new leader is expected to be announced on Friday 28 October, who as head of the biggest party in the House of Commons will become UK Prime Minister, according to the Conservative Party official responsible for the process.
Why did Liz Truss resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and how is the panorama now?
The opposition Labor Party, which opinion polls put on track for a landslide victory, immediately demanded an early general election.
"After 12 years of Conservative failure, the British people deserve much better than this chaotic revolving door," its leader Keir Starmer said after Truss resigned.
"We need a general election, now."
Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee, is expected to announce how the next leader will be chosen.
Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
But new elections are not a certainty, even as Britain prepares for its fifth leader in just over six years.
Instead, the Conservative Party is about to elect its third leader since the last general election in 2019.
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While the last Conservative leadership election lasted nearly two months, longer than Truss will spend as prime minister, the next one will be quicker.
Graham Brady, leader of the 1922 Committee, which represents grassroots conservatives, announced that the new leader will be chosen before next Friday.
Candidates to replace Truss will need at least 100 nominations from Conservative MPs, Brady said.
The requirement of 100 supports to continue in the race effectively reduces the field of possible candidates to a maximum of three.
Should only one candidate emerge, there could be a new party leader and prime minister by Monday, Brady said.
But if more than one candidate passes this threshold, they will be put to the party's membership in a quick online vote, and the new prime minister will be announced next Friday.
The contest will conclude in time for a crucial economic statement from the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, scheduled for October 31.
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Two more years?
"The Conservatives cannot respond to their latest debacle by once again snapping their fingers and shuffling those at the top without the consent of the British people," Starmer said in a statement Thursday.
However, the British people may still have to wait two years to give their consent in the next general election.
Labor Party leader Keir Starmer leads calls for a general election.
Credit: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
As long as the Government can gain the confidence of the House of Commons, it will be able to decide when to call an election.
For all their turmoil, the Conservatives have a healthy working majority of 71 in Parliament and their MPs are unlikely to voluntarily opt for an election that could see them lose their seats.
Currently, the Conservatives trail Labor in opinion polls by almost historic levels, indicating that the party is on the brink of disappearing.
Although many Conservative lawmakers have expressed despair at the state of their party, it remains to be seen whether enough of them would join Labor in a possible vote for a general election, as many of these Tory MPs would be out of a job. .
The next nationwide vote does not have to take place until January 2025 at the latest, and is generally expected to take place in mid-2024, which is the time of year when general elections are usually held in Britain.
A government needs Parliament to give the green light to plans for a new vote, and as soon as that happens a six-week election campaign period begins.
But the question of the general election will undoubtedly dominate British politics and haunt the new prime minister, given the whirlwind of changes within the government since the last vote.
Liz TrussUnited Kingdom