Boris Johnson will finally announce his resignation today – but is lining up a ‘unity Cabinet’ as he battles to stay in Downing Street for months longer.
The PM admitted defeat in the wake of a shattering intervention from Nadhim Zahawi, who was only appointed on Tuesday night following Rishi Sunak’s departure. He told Mr Johnson that his situation is ‘not sustainable’.
A No10 source said Mr Johnson has spoken to Tory 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady and agreed to stand down, with a new Tory leader set to be in place by the party conference in October.
A spokeswoman said the PM will ‘make a statement to the country’, which is due around 1pm.
However, at the same time Mr Johnson has set about rebuilding his Cabinet, making Greg Clark the new Levelling Up Secretary and James Cleverly the Education Secretary. Robert Buckland is returning as Welsh Secretary.
The resignation announcement effectively fires the starting gun on what looks set to be a chaotic leadership battle. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss – expected to be a candidate – is cutting short a visit to Indonesia to return to the UK.
However, it is far from clear that Mr Johnson staying on until October – more than two months – will be acceptable to Tory MPs. More than 50 government members have resigned, and there will be questions over whether they can simply be reappointed, or would even agree to that. There are rumours that Mr Johnson still wants to push key policies such as tax cuts.
Keir Starmer threatened to call a Parliamentary confidence vote and try to force a general election if Mr Johnson does not leave immediately.
‘He needs to go completely. None of this nonsense about clinging on for a few months,’ he said.
George Freeman, who announced he was resigning as science minister this morning, said Mr Johnson must apologise to the Queen and advise her to call for a caretaker PM.
‘Boris Johnson needs to hand in the seals of office, apologise to Her Majesty and advise her to call for a caretaker prime minister,’ he said. ‘To take over today so that ministers can get back to work and we can choose a new Conservative leader to try and repair the damage and rebuild trust.’
A former minister told MailOnline: ‘We need to be rid of the Johnson poison as quickly as possible.’
Ex-No10 chief Dominic Cummings wrote on Twitter: ‘Evict TODAY or he’ll cause CARNAGE, even now he’s playing for time & will try to stay
‘No ‘dignity’, no ‘interim while leadership contest’.
‘Raab shd be interim PM by evening.’
Another former minister, Nick Gibb, said: ‘As well as resigning as Party leader the PM must resign his office.
‘After losing so many ministers, he has lost the trust and authority required to continue. We need an acting PM who is not a candidate for leader to stabilise the government while a new leader is elected.’
Although he stopped short of resigning, Mr Zahawi appears to have struck the killer blow with his public call for Mr Johnson to give in. He tweeted: ‘Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country. You must do the right thing and go now.’
Education Secretary Michelle Donelan, who was installed in post at the same time as Mr Zahawi, also declared she is quitting, barely two hours after Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis fell on his sword.
Up to then the PM had vowed defiance despite the overwhelming evidence of his authority draining away.
At 6.47am, Mr Lewis tweeted that he could no longer continue without ‘honesty, integrity and mutual respect’.
Minutes later Treasury minister Helen Whately followed suit saying ‘there are only so many times you can apologise and move on’.
Security minister Damian Hinds and science minister George Freeman had followed by 7.30am, and pensions minister Guy Opperman by 7.50am.
Meanwhile, Wales minister David TC Davies publicly announced that he had refused a promotion to take over from Welsh Secretary Simon Hart, who quit last night. The Attorney General, Suella Braverman has called for Mr Johnson to resign and said she is only staying in place to keep the government functioning.
With the resignation tally reaching well over 50, the government was unable to find a minister willing to go on the airwaves to speak up for the PM this morning – with total silence from his team for hours.
The chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris was seen going into Downing Street early, after the lights were seen on in the PM’s flat deep into the night.
However, Mr Johnson’s critics were swarming to studios.
Former Cabinet minister Julian Smith warned that the premier had seen how Donald Trump behaved in relation to the Capitol riots after the US election, and was looking to have a ‘mini version in the UK’.
There were even suggestions from allies that Mr Johnson could try to force a snap general election in a desperate bid to cling to office – something that could drag the Queen into a constitutional crisis.
Veteran Tory MP Bernard Jenkin had urged Carrie Johnson to step in a convince her husband that he should throw in the towel.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured today) is being bombarded with more resignations but has refused to quit
Labour leader Sir Keir said: ‘It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister.
‘But it should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale.
‘And all those who have been complicit should be utterly ashamed.
‘The Tory party have inflicted chaos upon the country during the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. And they cannot now pretend they are the ones to sort it out.
‘They have been in power for 12 years. The damage they have done is profound.’
The PM yesterday rejected pleas from a delegation of loyalists including Priti Patel and new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi for a seemly departure, vowing to fight until the bitter end.
Despite the UK being a parliamentary democracy, he claimed to have a presidential-style mandate from the last election, apparently saying: ‘If the party wants to overthrow the elected will of the people, they have to dip their hands in blood.’
In a sensational twist late last night, Mr Johnson summarily sacked Michael Gove with No10 sources branding the Levelling Up Secretary a ‘snake’ who had tried to tell the premier that the ‘the game was up’.
Constitutional experts have branded the ‘nuclear option’ of asking the Queen for a dissolution ‘deluded madness’ which would spark a crisis as the monarch would be obliged to turned down his request.
In his resignation letter, Mr Lewis – a former party chairman who has been Northern Ireland Secretary since early 2020 – warned divided Conservatives cannot win elections.
He said: ‘A decision to leave Government is never taken lightly, particularly at such a critical time for Northern Ireland. I have taken a lot of time to consider this decision, having outlined my position to you at length last night.
Mr Lewis told the Prime Minister that in recent months, the Conservative Party has been ‘relentlessly on the defensive, consumed by introspection and in-fighting’.
‘A divided Party cannot win elections. It cannot deliver for those who trusted us with their votes for the first time in 2019.’
Mr Lewis told Mr Johnson he had ‘given you, and those around you, the benefit of the doubt’.
‘I have gone out and defended this Government both publicly and privately,’ the Northern Ireland Secretary told Boris Johnson in his resignation letter.
‘We are, however, now past the point of no return. I cannot sacrifice my personal integrity to defend things as they stand now. It is clear that our Party, parliamentary colleagues, volunteers and the whole country, deserve better.’
Ms Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent and another loyalist, said: ‘I have argued that you should continue as Prime Minister many times in recent months, but there are only so many times you can apologise and move on. That point has been reached.’
Security minister and MP for East Hampshire Damian Hinds wrote on Twitter: ‘It shouldn’t take the resignation of dozens of colleagues, but for our country, and trust in our democracy, we must have a change of leadership.’
In his letter of resignation, he wrote: ‘…more important than any government or leader are the standards we uphold in public life and faith in our democracy and public administration.
‘Because of the serious erosion in these, I have come to the conclusion that the right thing for our country and for our party is for you to stand down as party leader and Prime Minister.
‘I had hoped you would take this course sooner, of your own volition. But as it has become clear that you still intend to stay, I cannot continue to serve in your administration.’
Mr Freeman said ‘the chaos in your Cabinet and No 10 this month is destroying our credibility’ and ‘it can’t go on’.
Pensions minister and Hexam MP Guy Opperman wrote on Twitter: ‘I resign with great regret, given there are serious ongoing issues that need addressing ranging from cost of living support, to legislation, & parliamentary debates.
‘It should not take the resignation of 50 colleagues, but sadly the PM has left us no choice. He needs to resign.’
Tory peer and pollster Lord Hayward said that he thinks there may be pressure for Boris Johnson to stand aside and for Dominic Raab to become acting prime minister.
He also said there will likely be ‘up to 10 people’ openly considering putting themselves forward to be Conservative leader.
Lord Hayward told BBC News: ‘There is a possibility, I would have thought, that because many of the ministers have resigned over integrity and decency issues, that there might be pressure for Boris Johnson to stand aside and Dominic Raab act as Deputy Prime Minister, acting prime minister pro tem.’
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon waded in saying Mr Johnson hanging on is ‘not sustainable’.
‘There will be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end, though notion of Boris Johnson staying on as PM until autumn seems far from ideal, and surely not sustainable?’ she said.
Deputy PM Dominic Raab is thought to have warned the PM that he risked putting the monarch in an intolerable position if he tried to call a snap election.
It is understood that senior Conservatives had been told by the Cabinet Office that the head of the civil service, Simon Case, would warn against asking for a dissolution – which the Queen would have been obliged to reject.
The Queen, 96, was yesterday pictured being driven from Wood Farm near Sandringham, Norfolk, to her helicopter which flew her back to Windsor Castle.
She typically holds a weekly meeting with the Prime Minister on Wednesdays, which have frequently taken place over the phone since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, but it is not clear whether it occurred yesterday amid the pandemonium surrounding Mr Johnson’s leadership.
Two days of drama erupted when Sajid Javid announced his resignation, quickly followed by Rishi Sunak.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis joined a delegation telling Mr Johnson to stand down last night.
Behind the famous black door of No10, the PM also struggled with backbench chief Sir Graham.
But an unapologetic Mr Johnson shocked his ministers by telling them he is going nowhere, effectively daring them to call another confidence vote and saying he will focus on the ‘hugely important issues facing the country’. There were claims he told friends ‘if you are going to die, go down fighting’.
Meanwhile, he took revenge on Mr Gove. Their relationship has long been troubled, with Mr Johnson’s leadership campaign in 2016 derailed when his former friend withdrew support and decided to run himself.
Mr Johnson phoned the Levelling Up Secretary yesterday evening to tell him he was being removed from his Cabinet job, accusing him of ‘treachery’.
One Cabinet source told MailOnline the sacking showed No10 was not thinking straight.
‘Obviously Michael has been openly plotting against him and undermining the PM for months… but that’s the price for having him in government,’ the source said.
‘I don’t think anyone has taken a moment to pause and reflect at this point. Not one single moment, at least not in No10.’
The source said No10 comms chief Guto Harri had to take responsibility for much of the chaos.
‘He thinks he is a character in the play rather than a backstage floor manager,’ they swiped.
One senior Tory told The Sun: ‘He has lost it. He has become like Caligula — the Roman emperor who wanted to make a horse a consul. Michael was one of the best ministers in the Cabinet.’
The sacking came after the minister went alone to see Mr Johnson in his Downing Street study shortly before 10.30am yesterday and tried to persuade him to stand down.
Mr Gove warned the PM his position was ‘no longer sustainable’, telling him: ‘The party will move to get rid of you’.
‘It is better to go on your own terms,’ he urged him.
Despite his pleading, at the end of the amicable five-minute conversation, Mr Johnson told Mr Gove: ‘Thank you, but I am going to fight on.’
Attorney General and leadership hopeful Suella Braverman later joined the calls for the Prime Minister to quit as she launched a bid to replace him.
Daily Mail (UK)