PM resigns: Boris Johnson plans to hang on until autumn – ‘go now’
Today, at around 12:30 pm, Boris Johnson is expected to stand outside the famous No 10 black door and deliver his speech, resigning as leader of the Tory party. But sources say he intends to stay as prime minister until the autumn, in a caretaker role – (until the Tories have elected a new party leader).
Watch Live broadcast of Boris Johnson resigning Live from Downing street
The PM is currently in No 10 appointing new ministers to replace the 59 MPs who have quit since the dramatic double resignation of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid.
He has no plans to leave Downing Street until a new Tory leader has been elected to replace him.
But some Tory MPs and the opposition are calling on him to leave as soon as possible to avoid government paralysis.
Labour leader Sir Keir Stamer has said if the PM does not leave and appoint someone else as a caretaker PM, then Labour will call a vote of no confidence on the whole government.
Former minister Sir Bob Neil told MPs there was a “serious question mark” over how long a “caretaker” prime minister could stay in place.
“Might it not be in everybody’s interest to speed up the transition as much as possible?” he added.
“Widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end”
PM quitting – ‘good news for the country’
Starmer says the news of the prime minister’s resignation was “good news for the country” but “should have happened long ago.” Sir Keir accused the PM of “lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale” and said, “those who have been complaint should be utterly ashamed.”
Sir Ed Davey – leader of the Lib Dems – said it’s long been clear the PM was “unfit to lead our country” adding the “public won’t forgive the Conservatives for propping him up for so long”.
Whilst Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said there was a “widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end”.
Who will replace Boris Johnson? The case for Rishi Sunak
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How did we get here?
After a wild 48 hours with started with the shocking resignation of Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, a tough PMQs session was then followed by a bruising liaison committee meeting. The PM left that meeting to be met by some of the cabinet waiting at No 10, telling the PM it’s time to resign. In that time, many more resignations rolled in.
But last night the PM remained defiant, saying he would not leave his role. But by this morning, Boris Johnson has accepted the reality and is ready to step aside. At the time of writing, a massive 59 MPs have resigned from Boris Johnson’s government.
The 4 key events that saw Boris Johnson’s government fall