Boris Johnson is to resign as Tory leader on Thursday afternoon after mass ministerial resignations and withdrawal of support from MPs made his position “untenable”.
A No 10 spokesman has confirmed “the Prime Minister will make a statement to the country today”.
Mr Johnson is expected to address the British public about 12.30 or 1pm, although no exact timing has been confirmed yet.
It is understood he will resign as leader of the Conservative Party but will state his intention to remain as Prime Minister over the summer, until a new party leader is elected in a Tory leadership contest.
This is expected to be by the time of the Conservative Party conference in October.
A No 10 source said Mr Johnson spoke to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee on Thursday morning, to inform him of his decision.
“The Prime Minister has spoken to Graham Brady and agreed to stand down in time for a new leader to be in place by the conference in October,” a No 10 source said.
Where can I watch Boris Johnson’s statement?
Mr Johnson’s speech will be broadcast live on BBC News and Sky News, while ITV has programmed an ‘ITV News Prime Minister’s Resignation Special’ from 12.30pm.
The announcement will also be shared on the 10 Downing Street social media channels.
The resignation comes after the Prime Minister haemorrhaged support among his ministers and MPs.
More than 50 MPs have resigned from government or party roles since Tuesday night, when the mass exodus was triggered by the resignations of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid from the Cabinet.
In response to the news, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was “good news” that Boris Johnson is resigning but “we don’t need to change the Tory at the top – we need a proper change of government”.
