Boris Johnson will imminently announce his resignation after facing mass resignations from the ministerial ranks and a cabinet revolt.
Despite vowing to “fight on” just last night, the prime minister has spoken with the chairman of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee and agreed to stand down.
It is expected he will attempt to remain in post until a new Tory leader is in place by the party’s annual conference in October, a No 10 source said.
A Downing Street spokesperson added: “The prime minister will make a statement to the country today”.
Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the news, but said: “It should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office.
“He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale. And all those who have been complicit should be utterly ashamed.”
The Labour leader added: “Enough is enough. We don’t need to change the Tory at the top – we need a proper change of government. We need a fresh start for Britain.”
Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon also questioned whether it was “sustainable” for him to remain in the role until the autumn.
She tweeted: “There will be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end, though notion of Boris Johnson staying on as PM until autumn seems far from ideal, and surely not sustainable?
The prime minister won the Tories’ biggest majority in decades at the 2019 general election, but his premiership has been destablised in recent months by multiple scandals.
And in the last 48 hours the prime minister has haemorrhaged support among all wings of the party, suffering the resignations of his chancellor Rishi Sunak and dozens of other ministers.
In total 57 have resigned or have been sacked from the government since Tuesday evening. It is the equivalent of a third of the total “payroll vote” in the House of Commons – the number of MPs who hold positions from which they would have to resign in order to oppose the government.
The 57 comprises six cabinet ministers, 22 ministers, 22 parliamentary private secretaries, four trade envoys and three vice-chairs or deputy chairs of the Conservative party.
Once Mr Johnson officially announces his resignation, the timetable for a contest is agreed by the 1922 Committee and Tory Party HQ, with a new Tory leader expected to be in place by the party conference in October.
