BORIS Johnson has finally folded to overwhelming pressure from his Tory MPs and resigned as Prime Minster amid a warning it would be “unwise and may be unsustainable” for him to carry on until the autumn.
After a fierce battle to keep hold of the keys to Downing Street, Mr Johnson has insisted he is staying in office until October in a caretaker role – agreeing not to bring forward any policies during the remainder of his leadership.
The resignation came after he lost 59 ministers and MPs holding Government roles including Education Secretary Michelle Donelan who quit less than two days after taking on the job.
But leading Conservative figures including Douglas Ross have called for Mr Johnson to make an immediate exit.
READ MORE: Analysis: No remorse and no apologies as Boris Johnson finally loses grip
Mr Johnson resigned outside Downing Street yesterday afternoon in which he declined to acknowledge responsibility for the string of scandals that spelt the end for his tenure – including the Pincher affair that has proved a fatal blow.
Chris Pincher quit as deputy chief whip last week following claims that he groped two men at a private members’ club, but Mr Johnson was told about allegations against him as far back as 2019.
The Prime Minister acknowledged he should have sacked Mr Pincher when he was told about the claims against him when he was a Foreign Office minister in 2019, but instead Mr Johnson went on to appoint him to other government roles.
Mr Johnson faced an angry internal backlash over his handling of the Pincher scandal.
In his speech that made no mention of quitting or resigning, Mr Johnson admitted that “no-one is remotely indispensable”.
He said: “It is clear now the will of the parliamentary Conservative party is that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new Prime Minister.
“I’ve agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now.”
He added that “the timetable will be announced next week” and confirmed he has “appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until the new leader is in place”.
Highlighting Tory MPs bidding to remove him from office, Mr Johnson said it was “eccentric to change the Government when we are delivering so much” and claimed he was “only a handful of points behind in the polls”.
Mr Johnson said “I regret not to have been successful” in being able to persuade his Cabinet colleagues to let him continue in office and pointed to it being “painful” not to carry on in the job.
He added: “But as we’ve seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson quits: Who could become the next Prime Minister?
“And my friends in politics, no-one is remotely indispensable and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.”
The Prime Minister insisted that he sought to remain in office despite facing a host of controversies because he felt it was his “obligation” to continue to do what the Tories promised in 2019 when he secured victory in a general election.
He added: “I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed.
“And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world.
“But them’s the breaks.”
The Prime Minister carried out a reshuffle of his depleted Cabinet yesterday in a bid to fill some of the gaps left by this week’s mass resignation of ministers.
READ MORE: Boris Johnsons carries out Cabinet reshuffle despite resignation
But Mr Johnson has insisted his new-look Cabinet will not use his remaining months in office to make “major changes of direction”.
At a Cabinet meeting after setting out his intention to leave Downing Street, Mr Johnson told ministers they were "obliged to deliver on what we have already agreed," adding that it was "not for me to do a major change of direction".
He said: “I don't expect you will be browbeaten by No 10 to do radical or strange new policies.”
But the Prime Minister added that was "no excuse to take your foot off the pedal" but joked his latest inner circle was his "best Cabinet ever".
Mr Johnson told his colleagues that "major fiscal decisions" should be left to his successor, according to Downing Street.
Following his resignation, a planned keynote speech that was set to be delivered by Mr Johnson and the Chancellor, with the intent to draw up a strategy to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, has been cancelled.
The new Welsh Secretary confirmed the Prime Minister has agreed to carry on in a “caretaker” role.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Robert Buckland added: "That is very, very clear. And that is what Cabinet established clearly today.”
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer warned the Conservatives should not “inflict” someone they deem to be “unfit” for office on the country and warned he might use a Commons confidence motion to try to remove Mr Johnson from No 10.
Sir Keir added: "He needs to go completely. None of this nonsense about clinging on for a few months.”
The Labour leader also called for a general election to be held, saying: “We don’t need to change the Tory at the top – we need a proper change of Government.”
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the PMs resignation “is welcome for Scotland”, but stressed “it changes very little”.
He added: "Whoever replaces him, Scotland will still be saddled with a Tory government we didn't vote for imposing Brexit, austerity cuts and damaging policies against Scotland's will.
"And with all the Westminster parties fully signed up to a hard Brexit, it is clear a change of government alone cannot provide the real change that Scotland needs.
"The only way to escape the damage of Westminster control is to become an independent country, with the full powers needed to regain our place in Europe and build a fair and prosperous future.
"Whoever takes over from Boris Johnson must respect the democratic mandate Scotland has to hold an independence referendum so we can escape Westminster control for good."
Nicola Sturgeon said the decision will be met with “widespread relief”.
READ MORE: 'Widespread Relief': Nicola Sturgeon welcomes Boris Johnson resignation to 'end chaos'
She said: “I’m not sure that anybody can look at Boris Johnson and conclude that he is capable of genuinely behaving as a caretaker Prime Minister.
“He will want to do things and in the process of that undoubtedly cause more chaos than he has already.”
She added: “The interests of people from all parts of the UK surely must be to bring this farce to an end, without any further delay.”
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, who had previously called for Mr Johnson to quit, said that "the Prime Minister has finally made the right decision to resign".
Mr Ross later told STV: “We don’t yet know the timetable from the 1922 Committee for electing a new leader, but if it is a significant amount of time, I think the best option would be for an interim Prime Minister to take over.
“Given the events of the last 36 to 48 hours, it would be very difficult for the Prime Minister to continue.
“There are so many vacancies within Government at the moment, I think that would be very problematic.”
READ MORE: Tories push back on Boris Johnson's plans to stay in office until October
Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has criticised the idea of Mr Johnson staying in power until the autumn.
Writing on Twitter, she said: “There's no way he can stay on until October.
“It's arrant nonsense to think he can. Someone needs to grip this.”
And fierce critic of Mr Johnson, former Tory prime minister John Major has written to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers saying it would “unwise and may be unsustainable” for Mr Johnson to remain in office.
In his letter, the former party leader said: “The proposal for the Prime Minister to remain in office – for up to three months – having lost the support of his Cabinet, his Government and his parliamentary party is unwise, and may be unsustainable.
“In such a circumstance the Prime Minister maintains the power of patronage and, of even greater concern, the power to make decisions which will affect the lives of those within all four nations of the United Kingdom and further afield.
“Some will argue that his new Cabinet will restrain him. I merely note that his previous Cabinet did not – or could not – do so.”
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