British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned after an absolute bucketload of his MPs quit in protest of his leadership. Goodbye and good riddance!!! You won’t be missed!!!
The BBC reported on Thursday that Johnson would be resigning as the leader of the Tory Party, but sticking around as Prime Minister until the UK’s autumn — our spring.
A Number 10 source told the BBC Johnson had spoken to Graham Brady, who’s the chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee. Basically, it’s a committee which includes all the backbench Tory MPs.
“The Prime Minister has spoken to Graham Brady and agreed to stand down in time for a new leader to be in place by the conference in October,” the source said.
Johnson then formally confirmed his resignation in a speech later on Thursday.
“It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of the party and therefore a new Prime Minister,” he said.
“The timetable will be announced next week.”
At the moment, it’s not actually clear how long the Conservative leadership contest will take or how long Johnson will be continue as PM in the interim.
The leader of the UK’s Labour Party Keir Starmer said Johnson resigning was “good news”. Fair, honestly.
“It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister,” Starmer said in a statement.
“But it should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office.
“He has responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale. And all those who have been complicit should be utterly ashamed.”
The Conservatives have overseen 12 years of economic stagnation, declining public services and empty promises.
We don’t need to change the Tory at the top – we need a proper change of government.
We need a fresh start for Britain. pic.twitter.com/uMxRTomXX9
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 7, 2022
Over 50 Tory MPs resigned from their government roles, calling for Johnson to quit.
That includes five of his Cabinet. Ouch!!!
Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid kicked it all off on Tuesday night by handing in their resignations.
One of the key things that sparked these resignations is how Johnson handled allegations of sexual misconduct against a Tory MP, per the BBC.
In Javid’s resignation letter, he also brought up the no confidence vote against Johnson earlier this year. During the vote 148 Tory MPs voted against him while 211 voted to keep him. Not great odds TBH.
“We may not have always been popular, but we have been competent in acting in the national interest,” Javid said in his letter.
“Sadly, in the current circumstances, the public are concluding that we are now neither. The vote of confidence last month showed that a large number of our colleagues agree. It was a moment for humility, grip and new direction.
“I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership – and you have therefore lost my confidence too.”
That’s like a bloody Adele song. I can just hear her belting “you have therefore lost my confidence too”.
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon absolutely shat on the original idea of Boris Johnson staying as PM until the UK’s autumn.
She described him as “manifestly unfit to be PM” in a truly savage Tweet.
2. Boris Johnson was always manifestly unfit to be PM and the Tories should never have elected him leader or sustained him in office for as long as they have. But the problems run much deeper than one individual. The Westminster system is broken.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) July 7, 2022
Exactly how long Boris Johnson will be sticking around as PM is unclear for the moment. But for now: bye bye and thanks for literally nothing.
