British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to resign on Thursday after mass resignations from his Cabinet following the latest scandal to hit Downing Street, Axios reports.
Johnson said he will resign as the head of the Conservative Party and will step down as prime minister once a replacement is selected.
The resignation came after about five dozen ministers and party members resigned.
"It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader ... and therefore a new prime minister," Johnson said Thursday, one day after vowing to stay on.
He said he resisted calls to leave earlier because "I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019."
Johnson said he was sad to give up the best job in the world but “them’s the breaks.”
What’s next?
Johnson said he selected a new cabinet that will serve until the Conservative Party has selected a new leader to replace him as prime minister.
Johnson previously planned to stay on in a caretaker capacity until October but he’s under pressure to step down much sooner.
It may be difficult for Johnson to fill a new Cabinet after at least 59 members of the quit in protest of him staying on, roughly half his government.
Latest scandal:
Johnson survived countless scandals related to breaking Covid protocols, his handling of the pandemic and the economy, and personal issues.
But the latest scandal proved to be too much: Johnson named conservative MP Chris Pincher to his government even though he was aware of allegations that Pincher had groped several young men at a club.
Pincher resigned last week.
