Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned just two and a half years after he won a thumping election victory and an 80-seat House of Commons majority.
Over recent months Johnson has faced an increasing loss of confidence from his Cabinet and the broader Conservative party following numerous gaffes and missteps.
Partygate and the ongoing sexual assault scandal relating to former Housing Minister Chris Pincher have proved to be the final nail in Johnson’s coffin.
Yesterday reports surfaced that Housing Secretary Michael Gove had told the Prime Minister to resign for the good of the country and the party.
Gove was joined in his calls for the Prime Minister’s resignation by numerous Ministers including former Housing Minister and current Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps.
In an et tu, brute? moment Home Secretary and Johnson loyalist Priti Patel also joined those calling for the end of Johnson’s Premiership by the early evening.
However, Johnson fought back sacking Gove and vowing to fight on.
This was despite numerous Ministers having also resigned – including Housing Minister Stuart Andrew who quit his role yesterday.
Another former Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis resigned as Northern Ireland Secretary this morning.
Overall, the Prime Minister lost 48 members of the Government in just over a 24-hour period – more than any other Prime Minister in history.
The Prime Minister was also pilloried from all sides, including his own party, during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) yesterday.
During PMQs Conservative MP Tim Loughton asked the Prime Minister whether there were any circumstances in which he would resign.
Johnson responded: “The job of a Prime Minister [with a] colossal mandate is to keep going”. This was again despite several Government resignations.
Those resignations included the high-profile departures of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
Javid also delivered a blistering resignation speech in Parliament following his departure.
Javid said he is “instinctively a team player” but told the Commons: “Treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months.
“I will never risk losing my integrity.” Javid said his time as Health Secretary had “undoubtedly also been one of the toughest roles that I have had so far”.
Time to go
Despite his pledge to fight on with the backing of loyalists Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries the Prime Minister has now decided to resign.
It had looked inevitable that there would be a second vote of no confidence in Johnson’s leadership early next week when the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers was expected to change its rules.
It had previously been the case that a leader was safe for a year following a no confidence vote – it was only on June 7th that Johnson won such a vote.
However, with the whips office looking increasing unable to fill all the Government vacancies with MPs who have faith in Johnson it looked like the writing was on the wall.
And now Johnson has finally taken the decision to step down triggering a leadership contest.
An announcement is expected by lunchtime today.
So what happens now?
Under conventions of the UK’s unwritten constitution, there must be a Prime Minister at all times.
As such, a standing PM will usually offer their resignation but continue to lead until a replacement is found.
Johnson’s resignation has automatically triggered a Conservative leadership contest, but this could take several weeks to complete.
The contest will take place in two stages. In the first stage, Conservative MPs will put themselves forward as candidates.
All Conservative MPs then vote in a series of rounds to reduce the number of candidates until only two remain.
The second stage of the contest will see the two remaining candidates put to a vote of Conservative Party members.
Once the contest is decided, Johnson will go and the new leader voted in will become PM.
There is no rule saying that the new leader would have to call a General Election.
When is the next General Election?
The next election is scheduled to take place on May 2nd, 2024.
