Boris Johnson has resigned from Downing Street with bitter regrets that he has not been allowed to stay the course.
The Prime Minister admitted it was “painful” to be giving up the Tory leadership after a titanic two day struggle against his own cabinet and party.
Speaking at a podium in the middle of Downing Street, the Prime Minister said: “I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them’s the breaks.”
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Johnson thanked the public for backing his 2019 landslide against Jeremy Corbyn and made it clear he blamed party colleagues for ending his two and a half years in office.
He added: “And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.”
He had no kind words for colleagues and for the change in mood in his own party that had forced him out.
Johnson said: “The herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves it moves.”
He promised only to give “whatever support I can” to the next Prime Minister as he expressed his frustration at being turfed out after achieving the biggest Conservative electoral majority since Margaret Thatcher.
Confirming he would continue as a caretaker until a new leader is chosen, he said he was proud of what he has done and listed his achievements, from delivering Brexit and getting the country through the pandemic and delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe.
He said: "In the last few days I’ve tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much, when we have such a vast mandate and when we are actually only a handful of points behind in the polls."
“I regret not being successful in those arguments and of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself."
"But as we’ve seen, at Westminster the herd instinct is powerful when the herd moves it moves.”
However, in a glimmer of humility he acknowledged that “in politics, no one is remotely indispensable”.
Johnson assured the people of Ukraine of the UK's continuing support and on a personal level thanked his wife, Carrie, his family and staff for supporting him.
He added: "Above all I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege you have given me. "
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