UK PM Johnson to step down
What you need to know:
- Will Walden, Johnson's communications director when he was mayor of London, said the prime minister "doesn't do change, nor will he".
Will Walden, Johnson's communications director when he was mayor of London, said the prime minister "doesn't do change, nor will he".
Boris Johnson will resign as Conservative party leader on Thursday, the BBC reported, paving the way for a successor to replace him as British prime minister, after dozens of his ministers quit his scandal-hit government.
"Boris Johnson will resign as Conservative leader today -- he will continue as prime minister until the autumn," BBC political editor Chris Mason said, adding a Tory leadership race will take place this summer and the victor replace Johnson by October.
A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister "will make a statement to the country today".
Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer called it "good news" that Johnson was going to quit but said what was needed was "a proper change of government".
Johnson had been clinging on to power despite a wave of more than 50 government resignations.
But Thursday's departure of education minister Michelle Donelan and a plea to quit from finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, only in their jobs for two days, appeared to tip the balance.
Northern Ireland minister Brandon Lewis kicked off Thursday's frenzied events, becoming the fourth cabinet minister to resign, writing that Johnson was "past the point of no return".
The Conservative leader late on Wednesday defiantly responded to calls from his loyalists and cabinet colleagues to step down by sacking minister and former top ally Michael Gove.
The Communities Secretary was reportedly the first to tell him that he must resign for the good of the Tory party and country, with a source close to Johnson telling the BBC that Gove was "a snake".
The Sun newspaper said Johnson had told colleagues they would have to "dip (their) hands in blood" to push him out of office.
Will Walden, Johnson's communications director when he was mayor of London, said the prime minister "doesn't do change, nor will he".
"He doesn't do sorry. And won't. And he doesn't do resignation. At least not if he can help it," he wrote in The Times.
But Thursday's events appear to have forced his hand.
