Why is Boris Johnson resigning as Prime Minister?
BORIS JOHNSON has resigned after a wave of resignations from ministers and other government workers.
Following the resignation of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, over 50 ministers walked out on Boris Johnson, ousting him as Prime Minister.
Why is Boris Johnson resigning as Prime Minister?
On July 5, 2022, an onslaught of resignations began to hit Downing Street - lasting two days until Johnson agreed to leave his position.
Over 50 Conservatives handed in their notice, including cabinet ministers, after the Chris Pincher scandal broke.
Johnson announced that Pincher would keep his position as MP despite accusations against him which angered many other members of the Conservative Party.
The scandal was the nail in the coffin for Johnson, allowing ministers to express their lack of faith and concerns around the Prime Minister's leadership.
Calls came for him to leave Parliament, even from the very MPs he had brought in to fill the holes in the cabinet.
Chaos broke when Chancellor Rishi Sunak published his letter of resignation, which said "we cannot continue like this".
This was swiftly followed by Health Secretary Sajid Javid and an outpouring of resignations and the sacking of Michael Gove.
Concerns came as Johnson did not appear to be willing to leave in the first 24hours of walk outs, instead he looked to shuffle the cabinet.
He faced criticism from his newly appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and a 36-hour turnaround from Education Secretary Michelle Donelan.
This inevitably forced Johnson's hand as he could not continue with no governmental ministers to form a government.
It was announced that Johnson would resign on July 7, 2022, as leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister.
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Will there be a general election?
It is not thought that there will be a general election as this can only be called if the Queen dissolves Parliament.
Instead, a Tory leadership contest will ensue for the next Prime Minister to be chosen.
This means that the 1922 Committee will take ballots for the party to decide their next leader.
There is no public vote on this, whoever is chosen will remain Prime Minister for the rest of the term until the next general election in January 2025.
Johnson could remain in place as caretaker until the decision is made on who should take his position.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said: "We can't go on with this Prime Minister clinging on for months and months."
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There is debate around whether to bring a temporary caretaker Prime Minister into Downing Street rather than keep Johnson after his resignation.
The leader election is unlikely to take place until the autumn, as Parliament begins its summer break on July 21 .
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