July 7, 2022 8:54am
There will be a change at No. 10 Downing Street, but not until October.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has officially resigned as leader of that country’s Conservative Party, but not as Prime Minister, at least not yet.
‘I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world
‘But them’s the breaks’
Watch Boris Johnson’s resignation speech in full:https://t.co/mn6JfG1ogV pic.twitter.com/OYkO5gaZoY
— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) July 7, 2022
The BBC reports some Tory MPs want Johnson gone as soon as possible.
Johnson’s resignation comes after more than 50 members of his government resigned since Tuesday over a series of controversies in recent months.
In April, Johnson was fined for breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules by hosting a party for his birthday. A report also accused aides of holding a series of social events. In all, police levelled 126 fines against 83 people at Downing Street and Whitehall.
A Commons committee is investigating Johnson over whether he knowingly misled Parliament when he told the Commons in December guidance was followed in No. 10, the Prime Minister’s residence.
The United Kingdom has also watched inflation rise by 9.1 per cent this year.
Reports from the BBC, and other British media, say Johnson intends to remain Prime Minister until a replacement is found in October.
UK PM Boris Johnson says it is now the “will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of the party and therefore a new prime minister” https://t.co/qClrT6QyCj
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) July 7, 2022
In his announcement Thursday morning, Johnson accused MPs of “adopting a herd mentality and ignoring his electoral mandate.”
From the Guardian, Johnson said, “In the last few days, I tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much, and when we’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls… I regret not to have been successful in those arguments.”
Johnson promised to support the new leader of the Conservative Party.
ITV News says the search for a new party leader will begin immediately, and the timetable will be released next week.
So far, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not reacted to the announcement.
