Historic party revolt over a series of ethics scandals forces Boris Johnson to step down

Boris Johnson's turbulent tenure as Britain's Prime Minister came to an end yesterday after a historic party revolt over a series of ethics scandals forced him to step down.

CNN reports that it took the resignation of nearly 60 members of his government -- almost half the payroll -- for Johnson to finally abandon his attempts to cling on to power.

Even then, the Prime Minister insisted that he would continue as caretaker leader while the Conservative Party launches the process of choosing a successor.

Some senior figures in his party say even that will be unsustainable, given the dwindling number of people willing to work for him.

Others are already lining up to replace him.

Party officials say they will announce the timetable for a leadership election by Monday.

Speaking in front of the famous 10 Downing Street door, the same place where many of his predecessors delivered their own resignation address, Johnson announced that he would be stepping down -- without actually saying the words out loud.

Johnson said it is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore, a new prime minister.

In a sign that he is planning to stay in the office for as long as he can, Johnson announced he had appointed a new cabinet to serve, as he will, until a new leader is in place.

Johnson has in recent months been engulfed in a series of scandals that forced even his most stalwart supporters to abandon him. The latest was Downing Street's botched handling of the resignation by Johnson's former deputy chief whip, Chris Pincher, who was accused of groping two men last week.

Johnson initially attempted to ride out the crisis -- despite an unprecedented flight of middle-ranking ministers from the government, a battering at Prime Minister's Questions and a bruising appearance before a committee of senior lawmakers in Parliament. On Wednesday, he still insisted he wasn't going to resign.

He finally gave in yesterday after some of his most loyal allies told him that the game was up.

Source : CNN