On Thursday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it is ‘painful’ for him to leave office prematurely, but that the decision is ‘clearly the will of the Conservative Party.’
Johnson indicated that he would remain as prime minister until the Tories can elect a new leader.
A new prime minister will be selected from within Johnson’s Conservative Party, as it currently has the majority in the House of Commons, the lower house of British Parliament.
After months of scandals concerning his defiance of the lockdown rules he imposed on the nation, subsequently receiving fines for breaking his own rules, Johnson said “it is clearly now the will of the Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister.”
The past week has seen a slew of top-level cabinet ministers walk out, apparently owing to Johnson’s handling of allegations against former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, who was accused of sexually harassing two men in June.
Johnson was quoted saying during his resignation speech, “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.”
Boris Johnson resigns as prime minister https://t.co/YXLNVbH5Rj
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 7, 2022
BREAKING: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers his resignation speech.
“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.” pic.twitter.com/KZOzMyjKCz
— Newsmax (@newsmax) July 7, 2022
More details of this breaking news from Sky News:
Boris Johnson has announced his resignation as prime minister after less than three years in Number 10, saying: “No one in politics is remotely indispensable.”
Speaking from Downing Street, he thanked the millions of people who voted Conservative at the last election, and said the reason he fought so long to remain in office was because “I thought it was my job, my duty and my obligation to you”.
He also said he had tried to persuade his cabinet it would be “eccentric” to change prime minister now, but added: “I regret not to have been successful in those arguments.
“At Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.”
Mr Johnson confirmed the process to appoint a new leader would begin now, with a timetable set out next week, yet it is still not clear exactly when he will leave Number 10 for the final time.
Earlier, a No 10 source said the PM had spoken to the chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, and agreed for a new Tory leader to be in place by the party’s conference in October.
“After scandals, Boris Johnson quits as UK prime minister” by @Reuters https://t.co/MtdLCrsZ11
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 7, 2022
NPR had these details to share about the scandal which lead to Johnson’s resignation:
The scandal that ultimately ended his nearly three-year premiership was triggered by his decision to promote a lawmaker, Chris Pincher, to a position of power even though Johnson knew Pincher had been the subject of a sexual harassment complaint.
Initially, the prime minister’s office said Johnson had not known about any specific allegations. On Monday, after more allegations emerged against the lawmaker, Johnson was forced to acknowledge that he had. Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former chief adviser with whom he has had a bitter falling out, said Johnson had referred to the lawmaker as “Pincher by name, pincher by nature.”
Johnson did not deny he used that phrase and apologized for appointing Pincher.
Pincher resigned last week as deputy chief whip in the House of Commons over the scandal. Johnson suspended him from the party, meaning Pincher could not sit with fellow Conservatives in Parliament.
On its own, the scandal would not have been a resignation matter for the prime minister. But some of Johnson’s own Cabinet members saw it as part of a long-standing pattern.
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