and around the world. calls it a day, becoming the shortest—serving prime minister in british history. i cannot deliver the mandate on which i was elected by the conservative party. i have therefore spoken to his majesty the king to notify him that i am resigning as leader of the conservative party. just six weeks after her appointment by the queen, liz truss becomes a victim of her own failure, to command confidence at westminster and beyond. talk at westminster turns to potential successors, but can the conservatives can find a person capable of repairing the damage.

in beijing, the chinese communist party congress continues but some parts of the city go under a covid lockdown. hello and welcome to viewers in the uk and around the world. britain is set to get a new prime minister by the end of next week, after the governing conservative party announced details of a fast—tracked contest to choose its leader following liz truss�*s resignation. she stepped down afterjust six chaotic weeks in the job — by far the shortest tenure in british history. following growing calls from within her own party to go, she said she could not deliver

the tax cuts she'd promised, and which had largely been abandoned. we start tonight with our political editor chris mason in downing street. lunchtime in downing street — and the lectern is back. six weeks and two days since liz truss stood behind it as she became prime minister, she was back too — this time to resign. i came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills. putin's illegal war in ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent. and our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth. i was elected by the conservative party with a mandate to change this. we delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance, and we set out a vision for a low

tax high growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of brexit. i recognise, though, given the situation, i cannot deliver the mandate on which i was elected by the conservative party. i have therefore spoken to his majesty the king to notify him that i am resigning as leader of the conservative party. so what on earth happens now? 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 plans and maintain our country's economic stability and national security. i will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen. thank you. what an extraordinary moment.

just three and a half months since borisjohnson stood at that lectern and resigned himself, now his successor has done just the same. the chaos deepens. enter, then, this man, sir graham brady, who the prime minister mentioned, who will oversee the race to replace liz truss. what's he got to say? good afternoon, everybody. there's not a great deal i can say at the moment. i have spoken to the party chairman, jake berry, and he has confirmed that it will be possible to conduct a ballot and conclude a leadership election by friday the 28th of october. do you accept that this is a complete dog's dinner? it's certainly not a circumstance that i would wish to see. so what do the other parties make of it? the conservatives' rivals say it's time for a general election. cor, blimey, another opponent for you to face. what do you make of it?

well, it is another opponent, and, you know, we're burning through prime ministers, we're burning through chancellors, we're burning to home secretaries. and that gives it an element of soap opera, but it isn'tjust a soap opera and this is, you know, for many people who are facing higher prices, higher mortgages, this is real damage that's being inflicted on them. i really don't think another revolving door of chaos, another experiment at the top of the tory party, is the way out of this. what needs to happen now? on a uk level there must be a general election, . it is a democratic necessity. the idea the tories can unite behind a prime minister now, _ any prime minister, let alone one that is in the public— interest for the birds. the tories have shown they are incapable of providing the leadership, they are not fit

to govern our country and we don't need another conservative prime minister. they need to go, we need another general election and conservative mps have got to do that patriotically duty and vote for that. how did all of this happen? the era of liz truss is far too short to even deserve that word. this was her arriving as prime minister last month. the chancellor! thank you, thank you. in short, nearly her entire programme for government imploded on contact with reality. mr speaker, we're at the beginning of a new era, and as we contemplate... shouting. that's right, a new era. "mini budget, maxi disaster," as her colleagues called this privately. the markets tanked. so did her poll ratings. and her mps lost faith almost instantly. the other night i asked her... will you lead the conservatives at the next general election? i will lead to the conservatives into the next general election. definitely? well, look, yeah... and even yesterday she said... mr speaker, iam

a fighter, not a quitter. now it turns out she's done with fighting, and she's quit. so who will take over? you mightjust remember this guy. hasta la vista, baby. hasta la vista — "see you later". might we again? some conservatives would love it, others hate it. last time's runner—up, rishi sunak, is a possibility, as is cabinet minister penny more dent and kemi badenoch, ——mourdant and the woman who resigned as home secretary yesterday having a pop at liz truss in the process, suella braverman. the answer is no, the new chancellor has ruled himself out. at teatime we found out more from the conservative party about how the contest will work.

monday. candidates will be expected to have at least 100 colleagues nominating them. but if the party should put forward two candidates there will be an online vote for conservative party members to choose the next leader. all stages of the election will be concluded by friday the 28th of october. who might find themselves moving on here a week tomorrow? after what has happened to liz truss, you might imagine it could give some second thoughts. poisoned chalice it might be but prized it still is an tonight the race is under way. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. lets go to westminster now and speak to our political correspondent ione wells. what are we, just iipm here in the

end of an extraordinary day in london where do things stand this evening? london where do things stand this evenin: ? ,, . , london where do things stand this eveninu? ,, ., , , evening? essentially where things stand at the _ evening? essentially where things stand at the moment _ evening? essentially where things stand at the moment is _ evening? essentially where things stand at the moment is over- evening? essentially where things stand at the moment is over the l stand at the moment is over the course of the weekend and he tory mp hoping to get that top spot the next leader of the conservative party, the next prime minister for the country will need to try and shore up country will need to try and shore up support from the conservative mp colleagues. they need to get at least 100 conservative mps to back them by 2pm on monday if they are to have a chance on getting that top job. as it stands at the moment, no one has publicly put themselves forward but a lot of tory mps have indicated of who they would want to backin indicated of who they would want to back in a potential leadership race. at the moment the two mps yielding the most support are the former chancellor rishi sunak and the former prime minister borisjohnson. so very interesting that boris johnson in particular is getting a lot of attention this evening. i

have heard from some conservative sources like the business secretary jacob rees—mogg have been encouraging to back borisjohnson. the fact that he is giving that supportjust the fact that he is giving that support just three the fact that he is giving that supportjust three months after resigning himself is extraordinary. his resignation was partly triggered by swathes of his own government ministers resigning about his behaviour. ministers resigning about his behaviour-— behaviour. and the reason presumably. _ behaviour. and the reason presumably, many - behaviour. and the reason - presumably, many conservative behaviour. and the reason _ presumably, many conservative mps are not coming out and backing boris johnson because they think he is the person popular with the electorate. conservatives are way behind in the polls. conservatives are way behind in the olls. ~ ., ., , ., ~' conservatives are way behind in the olls. ., ., , ., polls. whoever does take over the stra- has polls. whoever does take over the strap has a — polls. whoever does take over the strap has a huge _ polls. whoever does take over the strap has a huge task— polls. whoever does take over the strap has a huge task ahead - polls. whoever does take over the strap has a huge task ahead of - polls. whoever does take over the l strap has a huge task ahead of them and notjust because of the state of the economy at the moment but also when it comes to uniting the conservative party again and as you say bringing them back from a disastrous set of opinion polls over the last couple of weeks. some of the last couple of weeks. some of the mps who are now public defenders of borisjohnson argue that he is

someone with a mandate, because he won the 2019 general election with a majority and the belief he would also conduct the support of conservative party members as well. having said that he is such a divisive figure in the parties still, on the other end of the spectrum there are some conservative mps including some senior ones who have indicated that if borisjohnson were to become their party leader again, they themselves would consider either resigning entirely or certainly resigning as a conservative mp and standing instead as a independent mps. that is the level of division within the current tory party so it is fair to say it will be an interesting couple of days to see where those other mps go in terms of who they support, crucially whether some of these names that mps are coming out in favour of you actually decide for themselves.— favour of you actually decide for themselves. �* , ., ., , themselves. briefly, ordinarily with these things _ themselves. briefly, ordinarily with these things lots _ themselves. briefly, ordinarily with these things lots of _ themselves. briefly, ordinarily with these things lots of mps _ themselves. briefly, ordinarily with these things lots of mps go - themselves. briefly, ordinarily with these things lots of mps go home | these things lots of mps go home back to their constituencies on

thursday evening and do their business by saturday sunday, that seems like it will be the case for many mps but if you are involved with the running or declaring support or backing support it will be a very busy weekend.- be a very busy weekend. that's riuht. be a very busy weekend. that's right- despite _ be a very busy weekend. that's right. despite mps _ be a very busy weekend. that's right. despite mps being - be a very busy weekend. that's right. despite mps being back. be a very busy weekend. that'sl right. despite mps being back in constituencies there will be a lot of behind—the—scenes chatter going on this weekend. as mps try and work out who they might support and in some cases whether they will run themselves. as well as rishi sunak and borisjohnson cabinet ministers penny mordaunt and kemi badenoch are also being mentioned some of these mps. suella braverman who resigned his home sectorjust this week is another name that has done the rounds as well. so there are figures that they are considering and considering whether or not they they should run. at the moment though, one thing that a lot of these potential candidates bearing in mind is given how short the contest it is it there is not much time to sell their vision to members. many of

them will want to be pretty sure that they can conjure up the support of 100 colleagues before they publicly say that they are going to put themselves forward. extraordinary stuff thank you so much. the past few weeks have seen a collapse in the liz truss's personal ratings in opinion polls, and in a trend that's spread alarm and panic among conservative mps, the party's poll ratings have tumbled as well. 0ur north of england correspondent danny savage was in the yorkshire town of wetherby at lunchtime, as the news of liz truss's resignation came through. lunchtime in the black bull in wetherby. this was quite the conversation stopper. i am resigning as leader of the conservative party. brilliant. no surprise, but what now? and what of the consequences of this? ifeel quite ashamed, to be honest. we were talking about this earlier saying, anybody from outside the united kingdom would

be very disappointed. we have got to give the country confidence back. there is a lack of confidence here. otherwise people who would normally vote conservative, like myself will think very differently if they don't get it sorted. as the latest tory bubble burst, people in this conservative constituency are frustrated and fed up. wanted... some stability, please. the tories stab everybody in the back, no leadership, they stabbed boris. i liked him as a character. yes, he made mistakes but he had a majority and was voted for. we are a great country, we have been a great country and we still will be if we could just rally behind some decent leadership. liz truss' time as prime minister will be remembered by many for rocketing interest rates and mortgage deals being pulled after the mini budget. you sense the housing

market will not miss her. if you could sitting down with senior tory politician is now around your desk, what would you say to them? sort yourselves out for goodness' sake. let's have some confidence, a policy that is going to be acceptable, not just to the country, but to the rest of the world. in local cafes, politics was the talk of the town. i did say earlier on, shall we have boris back? no, no. some people think that is the answer. i think he had some vision of things that could go right. i do. back in the pub, they were debating about what happens next. it needs stabilising, _ it needs sorting out and moving forward. the rest of the country is in turmoil, isn't it? i the electorate and the world wants answers fast, along with a large slice

of certainty and stability. danny savage, bbc news, wetherby. around the world, leaders have been giving their reaction to news of liz truss' resignation. in the us, president biden thanked her for her partnership on the war in ukraine, and said the us and uk would continue to cooperate closely. in france, president macron said it was important for britain to �*find stability�* as soon as possible. 0ur diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley has more detail on the global reaction. we're following some breaking news out of the united kingdom. after less than two months on thejob... her resignation made headlines around the world, capturing the international bewilderment at the chaos in the uk. this from italy, no stranger itself to short governments. and a german journalist found herself having to repeat the expletives used by one mp last night. "i'm bleep furious and i don't bleep care any more." - she continues in german. in brussels, eu leaders

holding a summit to discuss the world's energy crisis were, for a time, sidetracked by the extraordinary political drama here. translation: listen, i won't get involved i in the political life of the uk. i hope, in any case, the uk can again find stability. that's good for us and good for europe. stability is very important and we would like to see the uk system within its capacity, to be in a position to have a successor selected as quickly as possible and that stability will be brought to the situation, given the fairly significant geopolitical issues facing europe. at the weekend, joe biden took the unusual step of making clear he was no fan of liz truss's economic policies. i disagree with the policy, but that's up to great britain to make thatjudgment, not me. today, he had warmer words for her. look, she was a good partner on russia and ukraine, and the british are going to solve

their problems, but she was a good partner. but diplomats who spent their careers trying to build up britain abroad, such as this former ambassador to the us, are looking on at the political turmoil of the past few weeks with horror. 0ur reputation built up over decades seems to me to have been sacrificed, to have been ruined, almost overnight. it's a really sad moment to see this happening. i would never have expected it. and it feels almost surreal to see events unfold in this way. ijust hope that we can get some stable and competent and effective government back and rebuild our repetition, but it's going to take quite a long time. today, predictably, russian television mocked liz truss. the foreign ministry said britain had never known such a disgrace as prime minister. but britain's allies are fervently hoping now for a period of political calm with the myriad problems facing the world, not least the threat that russia poses.

caroline hawley, bbc news. the turmoil at westminster has been happening against a backdrop of bad economic news in britain, and further evidence of the cost of living crisis, that's affecting millions of households and businesses. our special correspondent ed thomas has been discussing the impact of higher food and energy bills, with people in greater manchester. away from westminster chaos, a place of hope when times are tough. how many people come here? we can get up to a0 people a day. a0 a day? yeah. st james' is salvation for those who are cold, hungry, struggling with life today. how old is she? she's 78, just turned. so she has parkinson's at the moment and has asthma. it's tough, yeah. liz truss is going, but for sonia, her mum's carer, difficult days continue. when you listen to what's

going on in westminster, what does it mean to you in your life? well, i think it's awful, really. it's disgusting, because they're just fighting amongst each other. nothing has changed and it'sjust showing they can't lead the country. but the damage is done, whatever they've done and whatever party gets in, the damage is done. go and get me some of those seeds out of there, please. _ jordana is mum to 11—year—old logan. a single parent, she knows this place can be a lifeline. have you ever known life like this in salford? never, ever, ever, and it's getting harder and harder. j in 45 days, liz truss, what's she done for your life? nothing, nothing, nothing at all. what has she done? i would really like the government to come into one of these and livej the day as life for a day - as a normal person, to have to decide whether they want i to buy food or they want to go and get something, a necessity, whether it be a shoe, _ coats, washing powder. cold, isn't it? it is, it's freezing.

next door, reverend michaela just wants the basics. not only create a warm welcome but a warm space, hot meals, room. she's been here for 15 months and says life is getting worse. when you've got the text, or the bbc news alert saying liz truss was going, what did you think? i think itjust stirs up more uncertainty and i think that's what we've seen over the past 45 days, it's just uncertainty after uncertainty. are you worried for the people who here? yeah, we can feed people but people are really struggling with low mental health, anxiety, and the way people are talking about paying their bills, keeping their homes warm. so you want politics to have the long—term answer is? yeah, and it should. not farfrom stjames�*s, we find kumar. kumar, are you all right? for this part of salford to thrive, business owners like him need

to do well. they've gone up three times. three times? this year? right now, politics isn't helping. if the customers are struggling we are going to struggle a little bit as well. sometimes you want to pack up, enough is enough. when you were watching liz truss in government, what was going through your mind? i'm thinking they are nutters, absolutely crazy. they didn't know what they were doing. so, what next? at a time of hardship for many, who will rebuild faith in british politics? ed thomas, bbc news, salford. let's get some of the day's other news now. for the first time, since the russian invasion of ukraine, energy restrictions are being introduced across the country after days of strikes targeting its power plants. ukraine's energy minister says, people have begun voluntarily reducing their power consumption but the government will still have to continue black—outs,

because of reduced supply. chad's military—led government says about 50 people have been killed in a day of protests for a swifter transition to democratic rule. the unrest took place on the day when the president, general mahamat idriss deby, was originally due to step down. the united nations has urged an investigation into the violence. in beijing, the chinese communist party congress is continuing but some parts of the city are under a covid lockdown, after an increase in infections. delegates are being kept away from beijing's residents. stephen mcdonell has more. thousands of delegates down at the great hall of the people are possibly not aware that the city which is hosting the communist party

congress has started to implement localised lockdown. now i say they are possibly not aware because most delegates are in isolation to stop them from being infected. at the moment in beijing though, it is at the housing estate, housing compound type level where there are lockdowns being imposed. if you are a contact with someone who has been infected or a contact of a contact you have to stay home. if you have been to a part of the city deemed to be high risk your health code will change colour and it will also order you to stay home. earlier this week, china's leader xijinping said, there would be no swerving from the zero covid approach. in spite of the fact that this is having a huge impact on the economy. we don't really know the latest figures in terms of that impact because gdp figures which were supposed to come out this week have been delayed. presumably because it would be

more bad economic news. during the congress. but lockdown like this that we are seeing in beijing that is happening also in shanghai. in inner mongolia, in xinjiang whole cities are locked down. in fact xinjiang the whole region, is kind of lockeddown. you can't leave there at the moment. without special permission because of coronavirus outbreaks. then there are cities like hangzhou, xi'an elsewhere with partial lockdowns. in xi'an the tourist industry is being absolutely hammered by these covered amelioration efforts we have spoken to people there who are barely hanging on in terms of keeping their businesses afloat. but, nevertheless at the communist party congress they are preparing to usher in a historic third term in powerfor xijinping. on sunday, he will reveal his new leadership team and there is no indication at all from the chinese government that has an idea of how or when it might provide an off ramp for the coronavirus

crisis and with winter closing in, every indication is the situation will probably get much worse. this is bbc news bye—bye. hello there. moving its way steadily north. and that unsettled picture will continue for the next few days to come, with low pressure centring itself always to the southwest, throwing these weather fronts around that low, driving in plenty of frequent showers. but the wind direction coming from the south, so still relatively mild, a mild start to friday morning. plenty of showers from the southwest and some of these heavy, possibly even thundery once again, first thing in the morning. now they'll start to drift out of cornwall, up into wales, and gradually towards the midlands as we go through the morning rush hour, eventually moving their way steadily north. fewer showers into the far north

of scotland, but nowhere maybe will escape those showers as we go through the afternoon. at least they'll rattle through at quite a pace because of that strong southerly wind — the strongest of the gusts close to the centre of the low during the afternoon, 50 mph not out of the question into the southwest. but always coming from a southerly direction, a mild source. so in between, with the sunshine coming through, temperatures still likely to peak into the high teens, which is pretty good for this time of year. now, as we move into the early hours of saturday morning, the centre of the low will move up into northern ireland, northwest england, and southwest scotland — that's where the frequent sharp showers are likely to be. we may well see some mist and fog forming behind as the winds become just that a little bit lighter, because we've got this little ridge of high pressure building for the start of the weekend. however, won't be long before another low starts to move in for sunday. so saturday, certainly the better of the two days through the weekend will have showers into northern ireland

and much of central and southern scotland. clearer skies behind some sunshine coming through, lighter winds. and so it will feel quite pleasant in the sunshine with highs once again, 18—19 celsius somewhere where the best of the sunshine is. moving out of saturday into sunday, here's the next low, then pushing in from the southwest, the isobars once again squeezing together, the winds, strengthening, throwing those weather fronts and those showers right across the country. so once again, we could see some sharp thundery downpours on sunday and that story will continue as we head into monday.

this is bbc news, the headlines britain will have a new prime minister by the end of next week, after the governing conservative party announced details of a fast—tracked contest to choose a leader following liz truss's resignation. the leader of britain's main opposition labour party has led calls for an immediate general election. keir starmer said that shuffling the people at the top without the consent of british voters was not enough. for the first time, since the russian invasion of ukraine, energy restrictions are being introduced across the country. it follows days of russian strikes on its power plants. president zelenskiy has said

a third of ukraine's facilities had been hit. parts of the chinese capital, beijing, which is hosting the chinese communist party congress, have been placed