London: Boris Johnson will announce his resignation as British Prime Minister on Thursday, the British media reported, after being abandoned by newly-appointed ministers and more than 50 others in a rebellion that had left the government dangerously close to paralysis.
With eight ministers, including two secretaries of state, resigning in the last two hours, an isolated and powerless Johnson was set to bow to the inevitable and declare he was stepping down later, media reports said.
“Boris Johnson will resign as Conservative Party leader today,” the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason said.
NEW Boris Johnson will resign as Conservative Party leader today
— Chris Mason (@ChrisMasonBBC) July 7, 2022
After days of battling for his job, Johnson had been abandoned by all but a handful of allies. It was far cry from when Johnson, 58, rose to power in 2019 when he won a large majority, capturing votes in parts of Britain that had never supported his Conservative Party before.
Even his finance minister, Nadhim Zahawi, who was only appointed to his post on Wednesday, had called on his boss to resign.
“This is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country,” he said on Twitter. “You must do the right thing and go now.”
Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country. You must do the right thing and go now. pic.twitter.com/F2iKT1PhvC
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) July 7, 2022
The situation evolved in this manner after PM Boris Johnson mishandled the issue of a senior official accused of sexual misconduct.
Earlier, it was reported that Boris would “keep fighting” despite mass resignation, but the situation turned out to be not in his favour his newly-appointed ministers abandoned him.
