Boris Johnson steps down as UK prime minister

Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson announced on Thursday he would quit as British prime minister after he dramatically lost the support of his ministers and most Conservative lawmakers, but said he would stay on until his successor was chosen, Reuters reported Thursday. 

According to Reuters, bowing to the inevitable as more than 50 ministers quit and lawmakers said he must go, an isolated and powerless Johnson said it was clear his party wanted someone else in charge.

“Today I have appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place,” Johnson said outside his Downing Street office where his speech was watched by close allies and his wife Carrie.

“I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.”

Johnson gave no apology for the events leading to his announcement and said his forced departure was “eccentric”, according to Reuters.

There were cheers and applause as he began his speech, while boos rang out from some outside the gates of Downing Street.

After days of battling for his job, Johnson had been deserted by all but a handful of his closest allies after the latest in a series of scandals broke their willingness to support him.

The Conservatives will now have to elect a new leader, a process which could take weeks or months, with details to be announced next week.

Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said he would call a parliamentary confidence vote if the Conservatives did not remove Johnson at once.

“We can’t go on with this prime minister clinging on for months and months to come,” he said.

In his resignation speech, Johnson highlighted his successes – from completing Brexit to ensuring the fastest COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Europe. But he said his attempts to persuade colleagues that changing leader while there was war in Ukraine and the government was delivering on its agenda had failed.

“I regret not to have been successful in those arguments. And of course, it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself,” he said. “But as we’ve seen at Westminster the herd instinct is powerful – when the herd moves, it moves and, my friends, in politics no one is remotely indispensable.”