After the resignations of dozens of ministers from his cabinet, it is understood that the under-fire UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has finally agreed to step down from his post. Johnson is expected to announce his resignation later today and the Conservative Party will elect a new leader before the party conference in October.
Indian-Origin politician Rishi Sunak, former Chancellor in Boris Johnson’s government, is currently the favourite to replace Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street.
Earlier, Boris Johnson was stung by a series of resignations from his cabinet colleagues. Rishi Sunak resigned as the chancellor and Sajid Javid quit as Health Secretary on Tuesday night. This was followed by a flood of resignations from other ministers as Boris Johnson lost the support of his party.
Nadhim Zahawi, who was appointed to replace Rishi Sunak also asked the Prime Minister to quit, and new Education Secretary Michelle Donelan resigned after just 36 hours in the post.
Boris Johnson, who was already under pressure over his Covid parties, faced a full-blown rebellion over his appointment as Chris Pincher as the deputy chief whip of the party. The deputy chief whip had to step down after allegations that he groped two male colleagues at a London club in an inebriated state. Following this development, multiple sexual assault allegations surfaced against Pincher.
Boris Johnson appointed him as the deputy chief whip despite knowing about these allegations back in February. The party MPs said that they could no longer support a leader who lied blatantly while appointing Pincher. This initiated the flood of resignations from his government which is going to end up with Johnson leaving 10 Downing Street.