Boris Johnson steps down as UK Prime Minister

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned as Conservative Party leader.

Johnson announced the move in a press conference on Thursday that he is stepping down as the leader of the Conservative Party but will continue as prime minister “until a new leader is in place”. 

Johnson said a timetable for the election of a new leader will be announced next week. More than 50 members of his government have resigned since Tuesday.

Moments after the news broke on Thursday of Boris Johnson’s decision to step down as Conservative Party leader and therefore as the British Prime Minister after days of high political drama, the overwhelming reaction from different quarters was that of relief.

The opposition Labour Party led the jubilant reaction to the imminent end of the Johnson-led Tory government, declaring it “good news for the country."

The party pointed to recent scandals of COVID law-breaking parties in Downing Street and mis-steps over MP misconduct cases that ended in a wave of resignations from within the UK Cabinet, which ultimately made Boris Johnson's position as Prime Minister untenable.

“It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister. But it should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office,” said Labour Leader Keir Starmer.

The mass Tory rebellion began on Tuesday after Downing Street admitted Johnson knew about allegations of past inappropriate behaviour against Chris Pincher when he appointed him Deputy Chief Whip in charge of party discipline in February.

Before the admission, government ministers had been briefed to defend their boss and say that he was unaware of "specific" allegations.

But minutes after Johnson apologised for his “mistake” in appointing the now-suspended Pincher, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced their resignations in quick succession.

This made way for an initial trickle and then an avalanche of exits from government, with ministers openly voicing their lack of confidence in Johnson’s leadership and demanding for him to go.