Today, Boris Johnson will eventually announce his retirement, but in an effort to prolong his time in Downing Street, he is putting up a “unity Cabinet.”
When a game-changing intervention from Nadhim Zahawi, who had only been appointed on Tuesday night after Rishi Sunak left, the PM conceded defeat. Mr. Johnson was informed that his status was “not sustainable.”
According to a source in No. 10, Mr. Johnson has spoken with Sir Graham Brady, the head of the Tory 1922 Committee, and has agreed to step down. A new Tory leader is expected to be in place by the party conference in October.
The PM will “make a message to the country,” according to a spokesman, and it is scheduled for roughly 1pm.
While doing this, Mr. Johnson began to reassemble his cabinet, appointing James Cleverly as Secretary of Education and Greg Clark as the new Leveling Up Secretary. Shailesh Vara replaces Robert Buckland as the secretary for Wales, while Robert Buckland is back as the secretary for Northern Ireland.
The Duchy of Lancaster names Kit Malthouse as chancellor.
When Mr. Johnson became prime minister, Mr. Clark, who had served in the Cabinet under Theresa May, resigned, and Mr. Buckland lost his job as justice secretary. Mr. Vara served as a minister for Northern Ireland in the past but is no longer in office.
The others are seasoned allies who have been promoted from different positions.
The PM’s announcement of his resignation will serve as the official start of what appears to be a tumultuous leadership contest. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is anticipated to run, is leaving Indonesia early to head back to the UK.
The Tory MPs’ acceptance of Mr. Johnson sticking on until October—more than two months—is far from certain.
There will be concerns about whether more than 50 government officials can simply be reappointed or even if they would agree to it. There are rumors that Mr. Johnson wants to continue promoting important measures like tax reduction.
If Mr. Johnson does not resign right away, Keir Starmer has threatened to call a confidence vote in Parliament and attempt to force a general election.
“He has to entirely leave.” None of this “clinging on for a few months” nonsense, he said.
George Freeman, who this morning announced his resignation as minister of science, said Mr. Johnson should apologize to the Queen and suggest that she appoint a caretaker PM.
“Boris Johnson needs to resign from his position, apologize to Her Majesty, and suggest that she appoint a caretaker prime minister,” he said. ‘To take over today so that ministers can get back to work and we can choose a new Conservative leader to try and repair the damage and rebuild trust.’
A former minister told MailOnline: ‘We need to be rid of the Johnson poison as quickly as possible.’
Ex-No10 chief Dominic Cummings wrote on Twitter: ‘Evict TODAY or he’ll cause CARNAGE, even now he’s playing for time & will try to stay
‘No ‘dignity’, no ‘interim while leadership contest’.
‘Raab shd be interim PM by evening.’
Another former minister, Nick Gibb, said: ‘As well as retiring as Party leader the PM must resign his office.
‘After losing so many ministers, he has lost the trust and authority essential to continue. We need an acting PM who is not a candidate for leader to stabilise the government while a new leader is elected.’
Although he stopped short of resigning, Mr Zahawi appears to have dealt the death blow with his public appeal for Mr Johnson to give in. “Prime Minister: This is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, the Conservative Party, and most crucially of all the country,” he wrote in a tweet. You must depart immediately and act morally.
Just two hours after Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis resigned, Michelle Donelan, who took office at the same time as Mr. Zahawi, also announced her resignation.
Even though there was clear evidence that the PM’s power was eroding, he had pledged defiance up until that point.
Mr. Lewis tweeted at 6:47 a.m. that he was unable to go on without “honesty, integrity, and mutual respect.”
There are only so many times you can apologize and move on, Treasury Minister Helen Whately said after her.
By 7.30 am, security minister Damian Hinds, science minister George Freeman, and pensions minister Guy Opperman had arrived.
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart resigned Friday night, and Wales minister David TC Davies openly stated that he had turned down a promotion to replace him.
Suella Braverman, the attorney general, has demanded that Mr. Johnson step down and said that her sole reason for remaining in office is to keep the government running.
With far over 50 resignations, the government was unable to locate a minister ready to stand out for the PM this morning, and his team was completely silent for hours.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the chief whip, was photographed entering Downing Street early after the PM’s apartment lights were seen being on well into the night.
But Mr. Johnson’s detractors flocked to the studios in droves.
Former Cabinet member Julian Smith said that the prime minister was planning to create a “small replica” of the Capitol riots in the UK after observing how Donald Trump responded to them during the US election.
Allies even suggested that Mr. Johnson would attempt to provoke a hasty election in a last-ditch effort to retain his position, which might plunge the monarchy into a constitutional crisis.
Carrie Johnson was asked by veteran Tory MP Bernard Jenkin to intervene and persuade her husband to give up.
It is wonderful news for the nation that Boris Johnson has resigned as prime minister, according to Labour leader Sir Keir.
But that ought to have taken place long ago. He was never a candidate for office. On a massive scale, he has been accountable for deceit, scandal, and fraud.
And everyone who participated should feel totally embarrassed.
The worst cost-of-living crisis in decades has been brought on by the Tory party, which has caused instability in the nation. And they can no longer claim to be the ones who will solve the problem.
They’ve held that position for 12 years. The harm they have caused is severe.
Yesterday, the PM rebuffed requests for a seemly resignation from a group of supporters, including Priti Patel and the incoming chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, and vowed to fight to the very end.
He claimed to have a presidential-style mandate from the most recent election despite the fact that the UK is a parliamentary democracy, reportedly saying: “If the party wishes to destroy the elected will of the people, they have to dip their hands in blood.”
Michael Gove was abruptly fired by Mr. Johnson late last night after the Levelling Up Secretary allegedly tried to inform the premier that “the game was over” according to No10 sources.
The “nuclear option” of asking the Queen for a dissolution has been derided by constitutional experts as “deluded folly” that would precipitate a crisis because she would be compelled to deny his request.
Divided Conservatives cannot win elections, Mr. Lewis, a former party chairman who has served as Northern Ireland Secretary since early 2020, cautioned in his letter of resignation.
A decision to leave the government is never made casually, especially when it involves Northern Ireland, he said. After thoroughly outlining my perspective to you last night, I have given this choice a lot of thought.
The Conservative Party, according to Mr. Lewis, has been “relentlessly on the defense, obsessed by introspection and infighting,” in recent months.
“A Party that is split cannot win elections.” It is unable to satisfy people who for the first time in 2019 put their faith in us with their votes.
‘I’ve given you and others around you the benefit of the doubt,’ Mr. Lewis said Mr. Johnson.
The Northern Ireland Secretary wrote in his resignation letter to Boris Johnson, “I have gone out and defended this Government both publicly and privately.”
But the moment of no return has been reached. I cannot compromise my moral principles in order to uphold the status quo. It is evident that our Party, the members of Congress, the volunteers, and the entire nation deserve better.
‘I have advocated that you should continue as Prime Minister many times in recent months, but there are only so many times you can apologise and move on,’ said Ms. Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent and another loyalist. That threshold has been crossed.
Minister of Homeland Security and East Hampshire MP ‘It shouldn’t require the resignation of dozens of colleagues, but for our country and trust in our democracy, we must have a change of leadership,’ Damian Hinds wrote on Twitter.
He stated in his letter of resignation that “the standards we uphold in public life and faith in our democracy and public administration are more important than any government or leader.”
“Given the serious deterioration in these, I have come to the conclusion that it would be best for our nation and our party if you resigned as Prime Minister and leader of our party.
I had hoped that you would enroll in this course on your own initiative earlier. But since it’s become obvious that you still want to stay, I’m unable to continue working for your administration.
The upheaval in your Cabinet and No. 10 this month, according to Mr. Freeman, is undermining our reputation and ‘it can’t go on.’
‘I resign with great sadness, considering that there are severe ongoing issues that need to be addressed, ranging from cost of living support to legislation, & parliamentary discussions,’ stated Guy Opperman, a member of parliament from Hexam.
‘It should not take the resignation of 50 colleagues, but sadly the PM has left us no choice. He must step down.
Tory peer and pollster Lord Hayward said that he thinks there may be pressure for Boris Johnson to stand aside and for Dominic Raab to become acting prime minister.
He also said there will likely be ‘up to 10 people’ openly considering putting themselves forward to be Conservative leader.
Lord Hayward told BBC News: ‘There is a possibility, I would have thought, that because many of the ministers have resigned over integrity and decency issues, that there might be pressure for Boris Johnson to stand aside and Dominic Raab act as Deputy Prime Minister, acting prime minister pro tem.’
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon waded in saying Mr Johnson hanging on is ‘not sustainable’.
‘There will be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end, though notion of Boris Johnson staying on as PM until autumn seems far from ideal, and surely not sustainable?’ she said.
Deputy PM Dominic Raab is thought to have warned the PM that he risked putting the monarch in an intolerable position if he tried to call a snap election.
It is understood that senior Conservatives had been told by the Cabinet Office that the head of the civil service, Simon Case, would warn against asking for a dissolution – which the Queen would have been obliged to reject.
The Queen, 96, was yesterday pictured being driven from Wood Farm near Sandringham, Norfolk, to her helicopter which flew her back to Windsor Castle.
She typically holds a weekly meeting with the Prime Minister on Wednesdays, which have frequently taken place over the phone since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, but it is not clear whether it occurred yesterday amid the pandemonium surrounding Mr Johnson’s leadership.
Two days of drama erupted when Sajid Javid announced his resignation, quickly followed by Rishi Sunak.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis joined a delegation telling Mr Johnson to stand down last night.
Behind the famous black door of No10, the PM also struggled with backbench chief Sir Graham.
But an unapologetic Mr Johnson shocked his ministers by telling them he is going nowhere, effectively daring them to call another confidence vote and saying he will focus on the ‘hugely important issues facing the country’.
There were claims he told friends ‘if you are going to die, go down fighting’.
He exacted revenge on Mr. Gove in the interim. Their friendship has been strained for a long time; in 2016, Mr. Johnson’s leadership campaign was interrupted when his ex-friend opted not to support him and instead to run himself.
Yesterday evening, Mr. Johnson called the Levelling Up Secretary to inform him that he was losing his position in the Cabinet and to accuse him of “treason.”
One Cabinet insider told MailOnline that No. 10’s firing demonstrated his faulty thinking.
It’s obvious that Michael has been openly working against him and undermining the prime minister for months, but the insider claimed that this is the price of having him in government.
I don’t believe anyone has stopped to contemplate or reflect at this time. Not even for a second, at least not in No. 10.”
The source claimed that No10 comms head Guto Harri was forced to assume responsibility for a large portion of the mayhem.
They swiped, “He thinks he’s a character in the show instead of the backstage floor manager.”
He has lost it, a top Tory told The Sun. He has resembled the Roman emperor Caligula, who intended to appoint a horse as consul. One of the top Cabinet ministers was Michael.
Before 10.30am yesterday, the minister went alone to meet Mr. Johnson in his Downing Street study and made an effort to convince him to resign.
The party will try to remove you, Mr. Gove warned the PM, adding that his position was “no longer sustainable.”
He advised him, “It is better to go on your own terms.”
At the end of the cordial five-minute exchange, Mr. Johnson told Mr. Gove: “Thank you, but I am going to battle on.” Despite his entreaties.
Later, as Suella Braverman, the attorney general and potential leader, launched a campaign to unseat the prime minister, she joined the chorus of people calling for his resignation.