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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday amid an unprecedented standoff with his cabinet over a series of scandals, which has already triggered the departure of dozens of other lawmakers.
“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,” he said on Thursday.
“I’d agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.”
It was not immediately clear whether Johnson planned to stay in office while the Conservative Party chooses a new leader, who will replace him as prime minister. According to the BBC, he intends to remain in the role until fall.
Johnson has weathered a series of scandals since his his landslide victory in 2019. The latest involves former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, who resigned last week amid allegations he groped two guests at a private dinner. The embattled British leader faced backlash after he admitted he was aware of past accusations, but put him in his government post anyway.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, two of the country’s top Cabinet ministers, along with dozens of other junior ministers have resigned since then, saying they no longer had confidence in Johnson’s leadership.
“I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voted Conservative, for the first time. Thank you for that incredible mandate. The biggest Conservative majority, since 1987,” he said Thursday.
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