UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson steps down after record resignations, scandals [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to resign after several dozen members of his cabinet quit his government.
• BBC and other British news outlets reported that Johnson would announce his resignation later Thursday.
• The source said Johnson would not leave immediately, but would stand aside for a successor.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party after defiantly rejecting calls for his resignation. This will see him removed as the country’s prime minister. Johnson would “make a statement to the country today,” the BBC and other British news outlets said he’d agreed to resign. 

The announcement comes after a historic number of government resignations, triggered by a series of scandals beginning last fall.

Johnson intends to stay on as prime minister until October, the BBC reported, but it was quickly questioned by members of his own party.

Opposition leaders and key members of the Conservative Party are already pressuring Johnson to step down immediately.

Johnson narrowly survived a vote of no confidence by his own party just last month after he was found violating COVID-19 restrictions. He broke the law by attending several parties during Britain’s strict pandemic lockdown. The “partygate” scandal severely damaged his credibility and popularity.

Earlier this week, Johnson came under renewed pressure to resign after his spokesperson admitted the prime minister is aware of a sexual misconduct complaint against Conservative MP Chris Pincher in 2019. Johnson, who seemed to forget the allegations, appointed Pincher to a senior government position. Pincher resigned last week after new allegations against him surfaced.

Those revelations led to the resignations of Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, two of the country’s top Cabinet ministers. Dozens of junior ministers followed their lead, saying they no longer had confidence in Johnson’s leadership.

On Wednesday evening, Johnson appeared to be remaining defiant even after more members of his government had resigned.

“Frankly … the job of the prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he’s been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going,” he told the British Parliament’s House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon. “That’s what I’m going to do.”

However, the number of resignations topped 50 by Thursday morning, local time.

Johnson finally agreed to resign after one of his closest allies, Treasury Chief Nadhim Zahawi, urged the prime minister to step down.

“You must do the right thing and go now,” Zahawi said in a letter posted on Twitter Thursday.

Johnson became prime minister in 2019 after Theresa May was forced to resign over her failure to secure a Brexit deal.

Johnson’s EU Withdrawal Agreement was approved by the British Parliament in December 2019 and the following month, the U.K. officially left the European Union.

The Conservative Party still retains a majority in Parliament. This means that the party’s next leader will assume the role of prime minister.

Source: CBS News