Boris Johnson resigned as Tory party leader and British prime minister after massive pressure for him to step down from his cabinet ministers and the Conservatives Party members of parliament.
“It is clearly now the will of the Parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and so a new prime minister,” Prime Minister Johnson declared in a statement outside Downing Street at noon Thursday.
“I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world,” he said after serving two and a half years in office.
Johnson will not be leaving 10 Downing Street immediately, and vowed to stay in office until a replacement is elected at a party conference in October, news reports suggest.
Johnson “has told allies that he wants to stay on until the Conservative Party conference in October with a new leader taking over then,” the BBC reported.
With the war raging in Ukraine and Brexit still not implemented, the business of government is expected to continue as usual. “Boris Johnson is filling vacant cabinet positions with interim appointments who will serve in government until autumn,” the broadcaster noted.
Johnson’s resignation came after several key members of his cabinet resigned and the Conservative lawmakers staged a rebellion amid the rising cost of living and a series of scandals implicating the government.
Prime Minister’s position became untenable after close to 50 ministers and senior aides resigned from their posts, calling for him to step down. “Since 6pm on Tuesday evening, when then Chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid resigned, 26 ministers have left in total. That number is more than the total that quit during the entire 11-year reign of Margaret Thatcher or during John Major’s seven years as PM,” the Sky News UK reported.
On Wednesday, Johnson vowed to stay in office but eventually succumbed to the mounting pressure from his own party.
Johnson, who ousted her party leader and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019, came to the power with a huge majority on the promise of “getting the Brexit done.” After more than two and a half years in office, the Johnson government is losing control of the country’s borders — key issues of the 2016 EU referendum, as illegal migrant boats from France, continue to land on British shores. With the European Union still refusing to let the UK off the hook despite losing the 2016 referendum, Johnson has miserably failed in executing his much-touted ‘Brexit plan’ and free Britain from Brussels’ yoke.
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