British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will resign on Thursday, officials said, though he will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until a successor is found, which will likely happen this summer.
The move comes after more than 50 ministers and senior aides stepped down in recent days following a series of scandals that left little to no confidence in the British leader.
Axios reported:
Last month, Johnson faced a no-confidence vote sparked by members of his Conservative Party after he was found to have broken the law by attending several social gatherings during the country’s strict COVID-19 lockdown. He survived the vote, but the “partygate” scandal over the events at No. 10 Downing Street severely damaged his popularity.
He came under renewed pressure to resign earlier this weekafter his spokesperson admitted Johnson had been made aware of a sexual misconduct complaint against Conservative MP Chris Pincher in 2019 — but later “forgot” about it and appointed him to a senior government position. Pincher resigned last week after new allegations were leveled against him.
Those revelations prompted Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, two of the country’s top Cabinet ministers, as well as dozens of junior ministers to leave their posts, saying they no longer had confidence in Johnson’s leadership.
Opposition Labour party leader Keir Starmer called on Johnson to leave immediately.
In a statement, Johnson acknowledged he was unsuccessful convincing colleagues to say, noting, “The herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.”
This is an excerpt from Townhall.
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