British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s tumultuous term came to an end on Thursday after he was forced to resign by a historic party mutiny over several ethics issues.
Johnson finally gave up trying to hold onto power after almost 60 members of his government resigned. Even still, the Prime Minister has appointed himself to serve as the acting leader while the Conservative Party begins the process of selecting a replacement.
Even that, according to some senior members of Boris Johnson’s party, won’t be enough given the decreasing number of people prepared to work for him.
Others are already waiting in line to take his place. Party officials have stated that they will make a leadership election schedule announcement by Monday.
“It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore, a new prime minister. The process of choosing that new leader should begin now,” Boris said.
Boris Johnson announced his resignation in front of the famous 10 Downing Street door, the same location where many of his predecessors gave their resignation addresses. However, he avoided saying the words aloud.
Johnson announced he had named a new cabinet “to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place” in an indication that he intends to hold onto power for as long as he can. The administration can continue to run as he gets ready to leave if new cabinet ministers are appointed.
Johnson talked about his efforts to continue serving as the leader and how “difficult” it is for him to step aside, but he omitted to mention the controversies that ultimately led to his collapse.
Even his most ardent followers have been forced to turn on Johnson in recent months due to a string of scandals. The most recent example was how poorly Downing Street handled Chris Pincher’s resignation as Boris Johnson’s former deputy chief whip after he was accused of groping two men last week.
Despite an extraordinary exodus of middle-ranking ministers from the administration, a beating at Prime Minister’s Questions, and a harsh appearance before a committee of senior MPs in Parliament, Johnson originally tried to ride out the crisis. He continued to declare on Wednesday that he would not step down.
On Thursday, some of his most devoted allies eventually convinced him that the game was over, and he gave in.