LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday after his government was rocked by a series of resignations over the last two days.
Speaking in front of No. 10, Johnson said the timetable for the leadership contest will be announced next week.
"It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party, that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister, and I've agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week," Anadolu Agency reported Johnson said.
Announcing that he will remain in the office until the new leader is in place, Johnson said he is appointing new Cabinet members today.
He said that millions of people voted for the party in 2019 and thanked "for that incredible mandate, the biggest conservative majority since 1987."
"And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so because I felt it was my job," he added.
Johnson said he is "immensely proud of the achievements of this government from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century and reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in parliament, getting us all through the pandemic, delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown, and in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to Putin's aggression in Ukraine."
He reiterated the UK's support for Ukraine, saying that his country "will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes."
Johnson said he has tried to "persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we're delivering so much."
"I regret not to have been successful in those arguments, and of course, it's painful, and not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself," Johnson said.
Anadolu Agency also reported him said: "But as we've seen, at Westminster the herd instinct is powerful. When the herd moves, it moves. And my friends in politics, no one is remotely indispensable. Our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times."
Johnson's resignation came after 59 politicians stepped down from his government within the past 48 hours.
He had to resign following a series of resignations on Thursday morning, despite his office last night saying Johnson is remaining "absolutely defiant" and "does not intend to resign."
The dozens of resignations came after the scandal over Johnson's appointment of MP Chris Pincher as the party's deputy chief whip, who was disgraced after being accused of drunkenly groping two men.
Downing Street initially said that Johnson was unaware of previous specific allegations against Pincher, but it later emerged that he was in fact informed when he was foreign minister in 2019 of previous instances of alleged misconduct on Pincher's part.
Just before the resignations, Johnson had apologised for appointing Pincher as the deputy chief whip, it reported.
Johnson had been under fire because of the lockdown parties held at No. 10, for which he was fined by the Metropolitan Police.
He had managed to survive a confidence vote last month as at least 15% of Tory MPs sent letters to trigger the vote to the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee.
Johnson had become the new Conservative leader instead of Theresa May in July 2019, after finishing the leadership race on top.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Thu Jul 07 2022
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday after his government was rocked by a series of resignations over the last two days. - AP Photo
Pemuda dipenjara lapan bulan, denda 1,500 kerana curi beg sandang wanita sarat hamil
Seorang pekerja sebuah syarikat penapis air yang mencuri beg sandang seorang wanita sarat mengandung sembilan bulan dihukum penjara selama lapan bulan oleh Mahkamah Majistret di sini hari ini.
AWANI 7:45 [03/05/2024] – 15 lokasi skrin besar | Malaysia di kedudukan 107 | Nasihat Mufti Perak
Laporan berita padat dan ringkas #AWANI745 bersama Syaff Shukri
Tumpuan #AWANI745 malam ini:
- Misi 'pecahkan Tembok Besar China' dan mara ke final Piala Thomas
- Indeks kebebasan media Malaysia merudum
- Tersasar daripada landasan keadilan Islam, mufti nasihat henti boikot KK Mart
- Cedera di kepala, kaki dan tangan, polis buru dua individu samun Akhyar Rasid
Saksikan #AWANI745 di saluran 501 Astro AWANI, Astro AWANI apps dan astroawani.com/live-tv
Tumpuan #AWANI745 malam ini:
- Misi 'pecahkan Tembok Besar China' dan mara ke final Piala Thomas
- Indeks kebebasan media Malaysia merudum
- Tersasar daripada landasan keadilan Islam, mufti nasihat henti boikot KK Mart
- Cedera di kepala, kaki dan tangan, polis buru dua individu samun Akhyar Rasid
Saksikan #AWANI745 di saluran 501 Astro AWANI, Astro AWANI apps dan astroawani.com/live-tv
AWANI Tonight: Malaysia drops 34 spots to 107th place in World Press Freedom Index
Malaysia placed 107th in the World Press Freedom Index, dropping 34 places from 73rd last year with a score of 52.07 points.
AWANI Tonight: Turkiye halts all trade with Israel
Turkiye will suspend all trade with Israel over its offensive in Gaza until it allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of aid into the Strip to address the humanitarian crisis there.
PM tidak pernah pinggir masyarakat India malah salur pelbagai bantuan - Ramanan
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tidak pernah meminggirkan masyarakat India di negara ini malah beliau telah meningkatkan lagi peruntukan kepada mereka.
Tiga pegawai polis berpangkat ACP, DSP, Inspektor disyaki terlibat pemerasan ditahan
Tiga pegawai kanan polis berpangkat Asisten Komisoner, Deputi Superitendan dan Inspektor yang disyaki terlibat dalam kes pemerasan berjumlah RM1.25 juta ditahan pada Jumaat.
AWANI Ringkas: MKT UMNO beri komitmen sokong calon PH
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Pasaran getah ditutup bercampur-campur untuk hari kedua berturut-turut
Pasaran getah Kuala Lumpur ditutup bercampur-campur untuk hari kedua berturut-turut pada Jumaat berikutan pasaran Jepun dan China yang ditutup sempena cuti umum.
Ringgit ditutup lebih positif, terus mengukuh berbanding dolar AS
Pada 6 petang, ringgit mencecah paras 4.7370/7400 berbanding dolar AS daripada 4.7535/7555 pada Khamis.
Bursa Malaysia ditutup kukuh, indeks komposit naik 0.59 peratus
Pada 5 petang, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) naik 9.29 mata atau 0.59 peratus kepada 1,589.59 daripada paras penutup 1,580.30.
Tak sedar aksi dirakam, penyampai BBC mohon maaf kepada penonton
Seorang penyampai berita saluran BBC memohon maaf atas selepas tidak sengaja menunjukkan jari tengah ketika mula bersiaran di televisyen.
Parlimen Britain sahkan laporan Boris Johnson berbohong
Ini sekaligus memberikan satu lagi tamparan kepada kerjaya politik bekas Perdana Menteri itu.
Boris Johnson didapati bersalah kerana 'penghinaan berulang' terhadap Parlimen
Siasatan mendapati bekas perdana menteri Britain Boris Johnson "berulang kali menghina" Parlimen berikutan penafiannya mengenai skandal "partygate".
Boris Johnson letak jawatan sebagai ahli parlimen
Bekas Perdana Menteri itu akui sedih apabila mengambil keputusan letak jawatan.
Kerajaan Britain diberi lebih masa serah mesej WhatsApp Boris Johnson
Hakim memberi tempoh sehingga Khamis, menyerahkan mesej dari aplikasi WhatsApp dan diari Johnson sebagai sebahagian daripada siasatannya.
Pengerusi BBC letak jawatan selepas laporan beliau terlibat dalam pinjaman untuk Boris Johnson
Pengerusi BBC Britain meletak jawatan pada Jumaat berikutan laporan yang mendapati beliau melanggar kod kerajaan.
'Tiada bukti saya mengelirukan Parlimen' - Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson menafikan beliau sengaja mengelirukan Dewan Rakyat dalam skandal parti di pejabat Downing Street.
Boris Johnson dipilih bertanding di Uxbridge, bagi pilihan raya umum akan datang
Pilihan raya umum akan datang di United Kingdom dijangka berlangsung selewat-lewatnya pada Januari 2025.
PM UK: Boris Johnson tarik diri, Rishi Sunak calon kegemaran
Percubaan kali pertama Sunak ialah pada musim panas lalu berikutan peletakan jawatan Johnson, tetapi kalah kepada Liz Truss, yang meletak jawatan Khamis lalu.
Boris Johnson tidak akan sertai perlumbaan jadi PM
Beliau memutuskan bahawa ia adalah satu keputusan yang tidak wajar untuk berbuat demikian pada masa ini.