KEY POINTSBritish Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday, bringing to a close a brief 44-day tenure mired by “mini-budget” chaos, economic turmoil and political infighting.Truss said she will remain in place as caretaker prime minister until a successor is named, with a leadership contest expected to take place over the next week.Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and even former Prime Minister Boris Johnson are among the likely frontrunners to replace Truss.LONDON — British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday, bringing to a close a brief 44-day tenure mired by “mini-budget” chaos, economic turmoil and weeks of political infighting.Speaking outside Downing Street, Truss said she had delivered her resignation to King Charles after meeting with Graham Brady, the leader of the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, earlier Thursday.“Given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” she said in a brief speech Thursday afternoon.The prime minister’s departure follows days of high level resignations, and a growing number of Conservative members of parliament (MPs) publicly calling for Truss’ resignation.Truss said she will remain in place as caretaker prime minister until a successor is named, with a leadership contest expected to take place over the next week.Here are the main contenders for the top job:Rishi SunakRishi Sunak, Britain’s former finance minister and Truss’ main opponent in this year’s Conservative Party leadership race, is now seen as a favorite to replace her.Despite losing to Truss in the final round of voting by Tory members, he was the top choice among party MPs and is considered a safe pair of fiscal hands. Indeed, after being berated by Truss during the race as a voice of Treasury orthodoxy, his critique of the PM’s “unfunded tax cuts” appears to have been vindicated.CNBC.com