Prime minister dramatically announces his intention to step down, but signals he hopes to stay in post for months to come
Boris Johnson dramatically quit as prime minister after a mass walkout of MPs finally sealed his fate, signalling an end to one of the most divisive and turbulent periods in British politics.
“In the last few days I have tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric 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,” he said.Johnson made no apology for any of the self-inflicted scandals that prompted his party to turn against him, including the hiring of an alleged sexual predator, Chris Pincher, as deputy chief whip.
Zahawi has a well-organised leadership campaign prepared, advised by an ally of the elections guru Lynton Crosby. He has signed up a number of MPs to back him, including a significant tally of those who resigned from government over the past few days, in an effort to demonstrate that he stayed only in the national interest.
The chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, who has never served in government, said he would offer the party a “clean start”. Johnson will remain in place until the party chooses a new leader – a process the 1922 Committee hopes to conclude as swiftly as possible. At the podium outside Downing Street, Johnson he was “sad to be giving up the best job in the world” but “them’s the breaks”.
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