LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is resigning, several media outlets including the BBC reported on Thursday.
“The prime minister will make a statement to the nation today,” a spokesman said.
Johnson held on to power despite the resignations of many of his top ministers. On Thursday, the man he appointed as finance minister less than 48 hours ago publicly urged Johnson to leave.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also called on Johnson to step down but said he would remain in his role to protect national security.
British Education Minister Michelle Donelan also resigned from the government less than 48 hours after being appointed, saying it was the only way to force Johnson to step down.
Donelan wrote, “I don’t see any way that you can stay in office, but without a formal mechanism to remove you seems like the only way… in a resignation letter, he said.” He had “pleaded” with Johnson on Wednesday to resign.
“You’ve put us in an impossible position… As a person who puts honesty above all else, I have no choice.”
More than 50 ministers have left the government in less than 48 hours, saying Johnson did not deserve to be in charge after several scandals, while dozens in his Conservative Party are in open rebellion.
A delegation of senior ministers and a senior figure representing Conservative MPs who are not in government went to Downing Street on Wednesday evening to tell Johnson that he needed to leave and make a respectable exit.
But he refused to budge, and even sacked one of his most effective ministers, Michael Gove, who, according to media reports, told the British leader that he should step down.
“I’m not going to step down,” Johnson told the parliamentary committee. The Sun newspaper quoted an aide of the prime minister as saying that his party’s rebels “will have to dip their hands in blood” if they want to get rid of him.
Johnson has suggested he had the mandate to rule from the nearly 14 million voters who voted Conservative in December 2019, when he came to power after years of bitter wrangling with Britain’s promise of exiting the European Union. had come.
He says that leaving the job in the middle of the economic crisis and war in Europe will not be responsible. Johnson has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in late February.
He also declined to say whether he would try to stay in the job despite losing a vote of confidence from his own lawmakers. It could be next week if they agree to change party rules, which allow only one challenge a year. He had secured a similar vote last month.
Opposition lawmakers said anarchy meant the government could not function. Thursday’s committees to examine legislation, including the National Security Bill, were being canceled as no minister was available.