British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party on Thursday after dozens of ministers abandoned his government this week following a series of bruising scandals. Johnson, 58, made the announcement in a televised speech outside his Downing Street office, but said he would stay on as prime minister until a successor is named. The timetable for a Conservative Party leadership race will be announced next week, he said. The leadership election will take place over the summer and the winner will replace Johnson by the party’s annual conference in early October, the BBC and others reported. Leading candidates include Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who has made a series of hawkish statements about China in recent months, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Rishi Sunak, who resigned as UK treasury chief on Tuesday. “In the past few days, I have tried to convince my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much, when we have such a vast mandate and when we’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term after quite a few months of relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally,” Johnson said. “I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and it’s painful not to be able to see through many ideas and projects myself.” Johnson spoke for roughly six minutes and took no questions. He blamed the “herd instinct” in Westminster for his departure. Johnson third PM in six years to be taken down by Tory infighting “The herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves,” Johnson said. “And my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable.” He added: “To you, the British public. I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will be disappointed. I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them’s the breaks.” On Thursday, Johnson appointed a new cabinet to keep the government functioning and fill the roles of departing ministers while he serves in a caretaker role. The decision to quit came a day after Johnson defiantly vowed in the House of Commons that he would stay on as prime minister, despite dwindling support within his Conservative Party. Several sitting cabinet ministers, including newly appointed finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, joined the chorus of lawmakers urging him to quit on Thursday. Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter that it was “good news” that Johnson had agreed to resign. “He was always unfit for office,” Starmer said in a tweet. “He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale. And all those who have been complicit should be utterly ashamed.” The news of Johnson’s resignation sent the British pound higher against the US dollar as uncertainty over the direction of the British government and economy weighed on the currency in recent days. Johnson replaced Theresa May as prime minister in July 2019 after her government suffered a series of defeats in parliament related to her efforts to negotiate Britain’s exit from the European Union. A former mayor of London and foreign secretary, Johnson, who appealed to everyday voters with his mop of blond hair, often rumpled suits and bold promises, won a leadership contest to replace May that year, vowing to “get Brexit done”. It is a sharp downfall for a politician whose party won a landslide majority in the last general election just over two years ago and who has often considered himself an heir to his idol, former prime minister Winston Churchill. Johnson survived a vote of confidence among his own party just over a month ago following a rebellion by Conservative backbenchers over the so-called “partygate” scandal, in which Johnson and dozens of other members of staff at 10 Downing Street were fined for breaching lockdown rules put in place during the coronavirus pandemic. A report by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, found that a series of gatherings at Downing Street, several in which alcohol was consumed, breached rules drafted by Johnson and his ministers and should not have been allowed. UK in ‘summer of discontent’ as cost of living, worker anger soar Johnson himself became the first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for violating the law after he was ordered to pay a so-called fixed penalty notice related to a birthday party held for him in the Cabinet Room at Downing Street in June 2020. His administration also has faced a cost-of-living crisis this year as the reopening of the British economy following the pandemic, and rising energy and food prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, have pushed inflation to levels not seen in decades here. Despite the revelations of events during lockdown at Downing Street and increasing pressure on the economy, Johnson continued to carry the support of many voters and Conservatives following the confidence vote. However, Johnson’s premiership quickly spiralled into a crisis this week after allegations emerged that Chris Pincher, the deputy chief whip, groped two men while drunk at a private members club in June. Pincher, who has been suspended by the Conservative Party, had previously been accused of unwanted advances before being brought back into the government by Johnson in 2019. Officials at Downing Street denied last week that Johnson was aware of any allegations against Pincher when he was promoted to deputy chief whip in February. However, Johnson apologised on Tuesday, saying he was aware of a complaint against Pincher in 2019 and made a “bad mistake” in giving him a role in government. Later that evening, two of Johnson’s most senior cabinet members – Sunak, the former finance minister, and Health Secretary Sajid Javid – announced their resignations, sparking a series of departures by junior ministers and a reshuffling of the government. Johnson vowed to stay in the role during a bruising prime minister’s questions in parliament on Wednesday and said he would unveil a new economic plan on Thursday. However, that did little to stem the tide of resignations, which had reached more than 50 on Thursday morning, and saw Johnson fire Michael Gove, a senior minister and Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, for “disloyalty” on Wednesday night. Britain’s new finance minister Zahawi inherits an economic crisis On Thursday, a series of senior ministers made their pleas for Johnson to step down public, including Zahawi, who was named as the new finance chief Tuesday. “Yesterday, I made clear to the prime minister alongside my colleagues in No 10 that there was only one direction where this was going, and that he should leave with dignity,” said Zahawi. “Out of respect, and in the hopes that he would listen to an old friend of 30 years, I kept this counsel private. I am heartbroken that he hasn’t listened and that he is now undermining the incredible achievements of this government at this late hour.” It is unclear how Johnson’s departure might affect the UK’s policies and relationship with China and Hong Kong. Johnson, who described himself last year as a fervent “Sinophile”, has faced pressure from backbenchers in his own party to take a more aggressive approach to Beijing on issues such as purported human rights abuses against ethnic Muslim Uygurs in Xinjiang, technology transfer and the adoption of a controversial national security law for Hong Kong. This year, the government has proposed a series of measures to tackle interference by foreign governments in Britain, including a new national security regime, and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has used newly found powers to conduct national security reviews of several deals involving Chinese buyers. On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Ken McCallum, director general of Britain’s MI5 security service, jointly issued a warning about industrial espionage by China, with the McCallum saying MI5 is conducting seven times more inquiries involving China than it did four years ago. Veteran politician and former security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee celebrated news of Johnson’s resignation in a tweet , saying, “Good riddance to Boris Johnson and that woman Liz Truss!. Ip is a convenor in Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu’s de facto cabinet, the Executive Council. Last year following the passage of the Hong Kong national security law, the British government enacted the British National (Overseas) visa programme, which allowed eligible Hong Kong people to seek to emigrate to Britain. The BN(O) programme has proven to be quite popular among both Conservative and Labour lawmakers, as well as other parties in Britain, with more than 123,000 Hong Kong people applying to relocate in the past 18 months. Johnson’s government has announced plans to expand the programme to young Hong Kong residents born after July 1, 1997, who have an eligible parent from October of this year. China hawks in the UK parliament, across party lines, had argued for an expansion of the programme, saying it was needed to help young activists who wanted to leave the city. “The BN(O) Visa Scheme will outlive Boris Johnson’s departure, not least because of its strong proponents in the cabinet,” said Sam Goodman, director of policy and advocacy for non-governmental organisation Hong Kong Watch, which pushed for an expansion of the programme. “It enjoys cross-party support including successful parliamentary efforts in the spring for its expansion, as well as support among backbench Conservative MPs, some of whom are now being talked about as potential candidates in the upcoming Conservative leadership race.” Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
