By Ben Kerrigan-
Boris Johnson will today resign as prime minister as he finally bows to the pressure of swathes of government resignations.
A No 10 source said Mr Johnson had spoken to the chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, and agreed to stand down, with a new Tory leader set to be in place by the party’s conference in October.
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A Number 10 spokesman said: “The prime minister will make a statement to the country today.”
The confirmation came shortly after the prime minister’s newly appointed Education Secretary Michelle Donelan resigned following just 36 hours in the post, and new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi told the prime minister to “go now”.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also confirmed he had withdrawn his support for the PM, and earlier, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis resigned from his post.
There has been intense pressure on Mr Johnson to quit after more than 50 resignations from all levels of government, and waves of backbenchers appealing for him to go.
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The mass rebellion began on Tuesday after Downing Street admitted the PM knew about allegations of inappropriate behaviour against disgraced former Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher in 2019, but still appointed him in February.
The wide exodus began after Mr Johnson admitted being aware of the allegations against disgraced former Mp, Mr. Pinchet, and apologised, saying appointing Mr Pincher was a “mistake”, Health Secretary Sajid Javid announce his departure, followed swiftly by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.’.
But speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mr Johnson dismissed calls to quit, saying: “The job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when he has been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going, and that’s what I am going to do.”
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng called the situation a “depressing state of affairs”, saying: “So much needless damage [has been] caused.”
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted there would be “a widespread sense of relief” that the “chaos” was coming to an end.
He added: “We now need a new leader as soon as practicable – someone who can rebuild trust, heal the country, and set out a new, sensible and consistent economic approach to help families.”
Boris Johnson has been thrown under the bus, when in actually fact the entire collective team of Mps have been complicit for some of the serious failings that have diffed the party, and could have objected openly about Pinchet’s appointment at the time if they knew about the allegations.
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