Boris Johnson to stand down as Tory leader after wave of resignations

125814799 gettyimages 1167766697
UK
Prime Minister Boris JohnsonGetty Images

Boris Johnson is to stand down as Conservative Party leader after losing the support of his ministers and MPs.

A Conservative leadership contest will take place this summer and a new prime minister will be in place in time for the party 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.

Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019 after winning a Tory leadership contest, and went on to win an 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 lockdown.

The revolt this week was triggered by revelations about the prime minister’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against former Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher.

BBC political editor Chris Mason said Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, has met the prime minister to tell him he has lost the confidence of the party.

Products You May Like

Articles You May Like

Humza Yousaf quits as Scotland’s first minister
Irish government wants to return asylum seekers to UK
Arizona indicts Trump allies over fake elector scheme
Chris Mason: Yousaf’s decisions follow SNP political timebombs
Follow live: See who joins the NFL’s 2024 Draft class in Rounds 2 and 3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.