Boris Johnson, the current prime minister of the United Kingdom, resigned from his position as the leader of the Conservative Party on Thursday. He will cease serving in that capacity and serve as acting prime minister until a replacement is named.
The British prime minister has been dealing with yet another crisis in his cabinet since last Friday, and there has been considerable pressure on him to resign.
Tuesday saw the abrupt resignations of Sajid Javid as health secretary and Rishi Sunak as chancellor.
Since then, other ministers and parliamentary assistants have also announced their resignations, bringing the total number of MPs leaving their positions in the government and parties this week to almost 50.
Mr. Johnson maintained his stubbornness despite the departure and a delegation of Cabinet colleagues advising him he should leave on Wednesday.
However, the new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi advised the Prime minister he should “leave with dignity” and “go now,” and the Minister has now bowed in and announced his departure from Number 10.
“It is clearly now the will of the Conservative Party in Parliament that there must be a new leader and therefore a new prime minister ,” he said in a Downing Street address.
“I have agreed with Sir Graham Brady, leader of our MPs, that the process of choosing this new leader must begin now and the timetable will be announced next week . And today I have appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until there is a new leader. ”
Johnson stated that he understood his retirement would disappoint some people and that he was “saddened to give up the best job in the world.”
“So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019 — many of them voted Conservative for the first time — thank you for this incredible tenure. Biggest Conservative majority since 1987,” he said.
