Following days of defections that furthered the political crisis facing the Conservative Party-led government, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation on Thursday. Speaking to the nation, Johnson stated he would continue as prime minister until a replacement was chosen and expressed his pride in his accomplishments. The prime minister made the decision to retire after receiving advice to do so from one of his closest allies, Treasury Chief Nadhim Zahawi, according to the Associated Press
Johnson had been hanging onto power despite the resignation of a string of his top ministers. On Wednesday, speaking in Parliament, the embattled PM said his duty was to go on and that he would resign if he felt it was impossible for his government to move forward. Rejecting calls to resign, he argued that he had a mandate from the voters to remain in office.
Months of discontent over Johnson’s judgment and ethics within the governing Conservative Party erupted with the resignations of Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid within minutes of each other on Tuesday evening. At least 32 British lawmakers including Sunak have left Boris Johnson’s government in less than 24 hours, saying the British leader no longer has their confidence and plunging his government into crisis, news agency Reuters reported.
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