Liz Truss kickstarts leadership race after ending chaotic 45 days as PM

As Starmer calls for general election, candidates scrabble to win nominations from at least 100 MPs to join race

Liz Truss announced on Thursday she was quitting No 10 after a calamitous 45 days in office, triggering a Tory leadership contest, with Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson battling it out to become Britain's next prime minister.

At a lectern outside Downing Street during another tumultuous day, Truss admitted that she could not deliver the radical economic mandate on which she was elected by Conservative members.