Liz Truss Resigns As U.K. Prime Minister

Liz Truss resigned as U.K. Prime Minister on Thursday after a rising chorus of members her own party called for her to step down after support for the premiere collapsed spectacularly not even two months into her tenure.

Truss faced a highly uncertain future after a parliamentary vote on Wednesday descended into total chaos on Wednesday night, with members of her Conservative party shouting and swearing at each other, and some claiming they were physically manhandled.

The Wednesday vote, which was on the future of fracking in the U.K., had initially been billed by Conservative party whips as a confidence vote in the government; Conservative members of parliament (MPs) were told that if they didn't back the government's position in favor of fracking, they'd be deemed rebellious and expelled from the party. It would have put a lot of MPs in the position of being forced to support fracking despite their opposition to the controversial practice.

Just minutes before the vote, however, Truss' government said it would no longer be taken as a confidence vote. The reversal led to confusion, which descended into chaos as the Conservatives' chief whip, whose authority had been undermined by the late change in plans, reportedly resigned. Hours later, Truss' office said the whip remained in her job, which only increased the private outcry from party members over the mayhem. 

Charles Walker, a senior Conservative member of parliament, expressed his outrage to a BBC News crew that was covering the events live as they unfolded inside the House of Commons.

"This whole affair is inexcusable," Walker said to BBC News. "It is a pitiful reflection on the parliamentary Conservative Party at every level, and it reflects really badly, obviously, on the government of the day." Walker also said he didn't believe there was any coming back from the chaos for Truss' government.

"I'm livid, and you know, I really shouldn't say this, but I hope all those people that put Liz Truss in Number 10 - I hope it was worth it. I hope it was worth it for the ministerial red box, I hope it was worth it to sit round the cabinet table. Because the damage they have done to our party is extraordina, I've had enough," Walker said. "I've had enough of talentless people putting their tick in the right box, not because it's in the national interest, but because it's in their own personal interest to achieve ministerial position."