British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday.
After ignoring calls to resign for several days, Johnson decided to step down, saying “it is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader and a new prime minister”.
“The process of that should begin now. The timetable should be announced next week,” he added.
In his speech, Johnson said he believed it would be unwise to “change governments when we are delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate and when we are actually only a handful of points behind in the polls”.
“I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and of course, it is painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself,” he said.
“Above all, I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege you have given me. And from now on until the new prime minister is in place, your interest will be served, and the government of the country will be carried on,” he concluded.
The prime minister’s decision to step down comes after a series of controversies including the “Partygate” scandal during the pandemic lockdown, a cost-of-living crisis, and his handling of sexual misconduct claims against a political appointee.
Less than 48 hours before Johnson’s resignation, almost 60 ministers and aides had quit, arguing the prime minister was no longer fit for his position.
Two of the U.K.’s senior cabinet members, finance minister Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid, quit in protest Tuesday, reported Fox News.
“I just said to him, ‘Look, it’s just when you go now, and it’s how you go,” Bernard Jenkin, a senior Conservative Party lawmaker, told the BBC.
British Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi told Johnson “Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country”. “You must do the right thing and go now”.