End of an error as Boris Johnson resigns

LONDON — Boris Johnson resigned as leader of Britain’s Conservative Party on Thursday, paving the way for the election of a new prime minister after dozens of ministers left his scandal-ridden government.

“It is clearly the will of the Conservative Parliamentary Party that there is a new leader of this party and therefore a new Prime Minister,” Johnson said outside 10 Downing Street.

Johnson, 58, announced he was stepping down in protest at his leadership after a series of resignations from his front team, but would remain prime minister until a replacement was found.

The timetable for a Conservative leadership race will be announced next week, he said, after three turbulent years in office marked by Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the relentless controversy over his reputation as a liar.

The leadership election will take place this summer and the winner will replace Johnson until the party’s annual conference in early October, the BBC and others have reported.

He said he was “sad…to give up the best job in the world” and justified fighting in the final hours to fulfill the term he won in the December 2019 general election.

In the frantic hours before Johnson’s announcement, opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer had hailed his imminent departure.

However, Starmer said “a real change of government” was needed and called for a vote of no confidence in parliament, potentially triggering a general election, rather than Johnson “hanging on to it for months”.

While keeping an eye on the outcome, Johnson tried to steady the ship with several appointments Thursday to replace deceased cabinet members.

Among them was Greg Clark, a “remnant” of the Ark who opposed Britain’s separation from the European Union, which Johnson had advocated.

Johnson had remained in power despite a wave of more than 50 government resignations and voiced his defiance on Wednesday night.

But the departure of Education Secretary Michelle Donelan on Thursday and a plea for Treasury Secretary Nadhim to resign

Zahawi, who has only been in office for two days, appears to be the deciding factor, along with warnings of another vote of no confidence from Tory MPs.