NICOLA Sturgeon has led demands for a general election after branding the resignation of Liz Truss as an “utter shambles”.

The leader of the Scottish Tories has backed the resignation - calling for the next prime minister to "restore stability".

Ms Truss has told the King she is quitting as Prime Minister after a chaos-hit 44 days in office - becoming the shortest serving prime minister in British history.

Speaking outside Downing Street, Ms Truss said: “I recognise… given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

A new prime minister will now be appointed by the Conservatives within the next week, meaning a third occupant in Downing Street in the space of a year.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, said he would "wish Liz Truss and her family well".

He added: She has made a tough choice but it is the right decision.

"We must now move forward quickly and the new leader and prime minister will have to restore stability for the good of the country."

Politicians have demanded a general election is held in response to the resignation.

The First Minister said there “are no words to describe this utter shambles adequately”.

Writing on Twitter, she added: “It’s beyond hyperbole - and parody.

“Reality though is that ordinary people are paying the price. The interests of the Tory party should concern no-one right now.

“A general election is now a democratic imperative.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also called for a snap general election to take place.

He said: “The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern.

“After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos.

"In the last few years, the Tories have set record-high taxation, trashed our institutions and created a cost-of-living crisis. Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 a month extra on their mortgages.

"The damage they have done will take years to fix.

“Each one of these crises was made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each one has left our country weaker and worse off.

“The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people.

"They do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment; Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish.

“The British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future. We need a general election – now.”

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey added: “Boris Johnson failed our country and Liz Truss trashed our economy. The Conservatives have proven time and time again they are not fit to lead our great country.

“We do not need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis, we need a general election, we need the Conservatives out of power and we need real change.

“It is time for Conservative MPs to do their patriotic duty, put the country first and give the people a say.”

House of Commons Leader and previously Tory leadership runner, Penny Mordaunt, said she would “keep calm and carry on” and encouraged others to do the same.

Asked in the Commons about Ms Truss’s resignation and the state of the UK Government, Ms Mordaunt said: “I am going to keep calm and carry on – and I would suggest everyone else do the same.”