Earlier today Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation as leader of the country and the Conservative party. Following over 50 resignation letters from MPs, including Cabinet ministers, Johnson was under pressure to step aside to allow a new leader to take over.
During his speech he said: "No one in politics is remotely indispensable." and speaking from Downing Street he thanked the millions of voters who chose him to be the next Prime Ministers in 2019.
Mr Johnson had attempted to persuade his parliamentary colleagues to stay but he failed in his arguments. A delegation of MPs, including Home Secretary Priti Patel visited Johnson yesterday evening asking him to step down, showing he had lost the confidence of the Tory party.
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Leeds residents reacted to the news today, with many saying it was time for Johnson to go. LeedsLive were out and about on the streets of the city asking people what they thought of the news.
One resident named Tom said: "My thoughts on Boris are that he was an unlucky Prime Minister so he had the Russian conflict, he had Covid and okay Brexit was somewhat his own doing if that makes sense but I do think he was probably past his time to go. It's a good thing that he has resigned but the question is, who will replace him? I don't actually think that any of the potential replacements are any better."
Another resident named Aiden said he was happy to see Johnson go, but was concerned about the future and who will take his place.
He said: "I'm very glad he's resigned, I'm just a little bit worried about what comes next in terms of who is going to take over. But at the minute, very happy I think it's good to shake things up but again I am just worried if it's going to be the same old thing on repeat, the same old story.
"I think he should have been out six months ago when the whole partygate thing kicked off, I actually think he shouldn't have been appointed at all, it was very long overdue."
Most of the people who spoke to use agreed that Johnson had overstayed his welcome. However, the main concerns were what happens next, several MPs have already announced they will run for leadership including Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary.
A student in Leeds said: "I'm surprised to be honest, of all the politicians I thought Johnson would really cling on but he had no party to back him. It's a complete mess, even the Tories thought he was too Tory, he lost all faith of his own party and he should have stepped aside sooner but now he's been forced out.
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