A defiant Boris Johnson has finally announced his resignation as Prime Minister. In a statement outside 10 Downing Street, the embattled PM said he will step down as Conservative leader once his replacement has been found.
Mr Johnson's leadership has been hanging in the balance in recent days following a string of resignations from Cabinet ministers. Pressure on the PM ramped up over his handling of the row involving his former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.
His support collapsed further as dozens of his own MPs also announced their departures from government and party posts this week. Despite the exodus and a delegation of Cabinet ministers telling him he should go on Wednesday, Mr Johnson initially ignored the warnings and remained defiant.
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However, he eventually caved into the pressure today and announced his departure from Number 10 after the new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi told the PM he should “leave with dignity” and “go now”. In an address outside No 10 this lunchtime, Mr Johnson said it had been an "immense privilege" to serve as Prime Minister.
He said “the process of choosing a new leader should begin now”, and that he will continue to serve until his successor is in place, expected to be by the time of the Conservative Party conference in October.
Mr Johnson thanked voters who secured the Conservative majority in 2019, and said he had fought over the past few days to continue in his post “because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you”.
He also touched on how he tried to tell party colleagues he didn't want to give up his job, explaining that he had tried to persuade his Cabinet it would be “eccentric” to change Prime Minister now.
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’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally."
He added: "I regret not to be successful in those arguments and of course, it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.”
The timetable for the Tory leadership contest will be agreed between the 1922 Committee, which runs the parliamentary proceedings to whittle the candidates down to two, and Conservative headquarters. But critics of the Prime Minister suggested he should not be allowed to remain in office until the autumn.
Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for a ‘proper change of government’ following Mr Johnson's departure as Prime Minister. In a statement on social media, Sir Starmer said Mr Johnson's resignation was 'good news for the country' and hoped the decision would lead to a ‘fresh start for Britain’.
Leadership jostling had already begun before Mr Johnson signalled he would resign. Attorney General Suella Braverman and arch-Brexiteer Steve Baker have both indicated they will run.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has also hinted that he will throw his hat in the ring. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is widely expected to run, cut short an official trip to Indonesia and is expected to issue a statement.
Mr Johnson was elevated to the position of Prime Minister in July 2019 after he was voted leader of the Conservative Party following the resignation of Theresa May. He secured his leadership in the 2019 December general election where the Conservative Party celebrated its biggest majority since Margaret Thatcher was in power in 1987.
The win was made all the more impressive as it saw the Tories take a number of seats in traditional Labour heartlands, including Leigh and Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester.
Since then, he led the country through the Covid-19 pandemic, although with controversy and scandal following him for most of the way. The Prime Minister’s authority was damaged earlier this year after it emerged that a series of parties were held at Downing Street during lockdown.
The Sue Gray report criticised the leadership that allowed the parties to take place. In June, a confidence vote saw 41pc of his own MPs withdraw their support of Mr Johnson's leadership.
The loss of crunch by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton later that month also triggered the resignation of party chairman Oliver Dowden, while there is still lingering anger over coronavirus lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street.
His leadership was put under further pressure when Mr Pincher quit as deputy chief whip last week following claims that he groped two men at the upmarket Carlton Club. It later emerged Mr Johnson knew about allegations against him as far back as 2019. The Prime Minister acknowledged he should have sacked Mr Pincher when he was found to have behaved inappropriately when he was a Foreign Office minister in 2019, but instead Mr Johnson went on to appoint him to other government roles.
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