Penny Mordaunt has encouraged MPs to “keep calm and carry on” following the resignation of Liz Truss as Prime Minister.
The Conservative minister was in the Commons when Ms Truss appeared in Downing Street to announce her resignation as Conservative Party leader.
Ms Mordaunt came third in the leadership contest over the summer and narrowly missed out on a place in the head-to-head phase between Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak.
She later backed Ms Truss over the former chancellor Mr Sunak.
Asked in the chamber about Ms Truss’s resignation and the state of the Government, Commons Leader Ms Mordaunt said: “I am going to keep calm and carry on – and I would suggest everyone else do the same.”
Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain joked that she wanted to ask Ms Mordaunt if she “wants to make any statement of intent in relation to her future candidacy for leader of her party”, before focusing her question on international aid.
Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans later said it had been “another momentous day in British politics” as the Commons pressed on with its scheduled business despite the drama outside.
In her resignation statement, Ms Truss said: “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.”
She added: “I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.
“This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. We have 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."
Penny Mordaunt
Stefan Rousseau
Liz Truss has resigned as Prime Minister
Stefan Rousseau