Boris Johnson will today resign as prime minister after losing the support of his ministers and MPs, as he finally bows to the pressure of swathes of government resignations.
It was gathered that Mr. Johnson had spoken to the chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, and agreed to stand down, with a new Tory leader set to be in place by the party’s conference in October. In the meantime, Mr. Johnson will continue as prime minister.
He had vowed to “keep going” following a wave of resignations from the government over his leadership but has now decided to step down.
Senior members of his cabinet, including chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, urged him to resign and “leave with dignity”.
Mr. Johnson is expected to give a resignation statement outside No 10 Downing Street later.
A Number 10 spokesman said: “The prime minister will make a statement to the country today.”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also confirmed he had withdrawn his support for the PM, and earlier, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis resigned from his post.
Mr. Johnson became prime minister in July 2019 after winning a Tory leadership contest and went on to win a historic landslide general election victory five months after that.
He won the election vowing to “get Brexit done” but his government has been dogged by a series of controversies in recent months, not least a police investigation into parties in Downing Street during the lockdown.
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