Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson to quit as UK prime minister

  07 July 1999    Read: 591
Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson to quit as UK prime minister

Boris Johnson will announce his resignation as British prime minister on Thursday after he was abandoned by ministers and his Conservative Party's lawmakers who said he was no longer fit to govern.

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 he was stepping down later on Thursday, a source said.

His Downing Street office confirmed that Johnson would make a statement to the country later.

After days of battling for his job, Johnson had been deserted by all but a handful of allies after the latest in a series of scandals broke their willingness to support him.

"His resignation was inevitable," Justin Tomlinson, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, said on Twitter. "As a party we must quickly unite and focus on what matters. These are serious times on many fronts."

 

Reuters


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