After ministers tell him to "go", UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson agrees to RESIGN: Reports

With eight ministers, including two secretaries of state, resigning in a span of two hours, an isolated and powerless Johnson was set to bow to the inevitable and declare that he was stepping down later, media reports said.

Pic courtesy: Reuters

London (UK): After much drama and his successive ministers quitting, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is all set to announce his resignation as British Prime Minister, the British media reported. Johnson was abandoned by his newly-appointed ministers and more than 50 others in a rebellion that had left the government dangerously close to paralysis. With eight ministers, including two secretaries of state, resigning in the last two hours, an isolated and powerless Johnson was set to bow to the inevitable and declare his was stepping down later, media reports said.

"Boris Johnson will resign as Conservative Party leader today," the BBC's political editor Chris Mason said. Boris Johnson gave in after more than 40 ministers quit his government and told him to go. It was not immediately clear whether he would stay in office while the Conservative Party chooses a new leader and other facts like who will replace him as prime minister. Some reports said that Boris Johnson has agreed to stand down as Tory leader and he will remain the PM until a new leader is elected, Downing Street informed.

After days of battling for his job, Johnson had been abandoned by all but a handful of allies. It was far cry from when Johnson, 58, rose to power in 2019 when he won a large majority, capturing votes in parts of Britain that had never supported his Conservative Party before Even his finance minister, Nadhim Zahawi, who was only appointed to his post on Wednesday, had called on his boss to resign. "This is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country," he said on Twitter. "You must do the right thing and go now."

Zahawi did not say he had resigned, but said he went to the prime minister's office in Downing Street with cabinet colleagues on Wednesday evening to tell Johnson to "leave with dignity", reported Reuters. "I am heartbroken that he hasn't listened and that he is now undermining the incredible achievements of this government," Zahawi said in a letter. "The country deserves a government that is not only stable but which acts with integrity. Prime Minister you know in your heart what the right thing to do is, and go now."

Reacting to the news, Keir Starmer, Leader of Opposition, Labour Party, said, "It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister. But it should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale."

(With inputs from Agencies)