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Liz Truss, the British prime minister, resigned on Thursday following a turbulent and historically brief stint during which her economic policies shook financial markets and a coup within her political party destroyed her authority.

Truss was overthrown as the third Conservative prime minister in as many years, adding to the unrest that has gripped Britain since it left the European Union and leaving the country's leadership in a precarious position as it grapples with a cost-of-living problem and impending recession.

Markets exhaled a sigh of relief, but Truss leaves a party split and looking for a leader who can bring its warring parts together. Truss, who promised to stay in office until a successor is picked, has only been prime minister for 45 days and is very probably on track to hold the record for the least term in British politics.

The low-tax, low-regulation economic ideas that helped Truss win the election turned out to be terrible in the real world during a period of high inflation and sluggish growth.