From the moment Boris Johnson was elected leader of the Conservative Party just under three years ago, the likelihood that his premiership would collapse owing to his non-existent moral code became an almost certainty.

As he has shown his entire life, the man who as a child aspired to be a ‘world king’ manifested that his first loyalty is always to himself, not the country. A series of blunders followed that has led his Government to the verge of total collapse.

Despite the rhetoric around levelling up, his pledge to tackle regional inequality proved a mere slogan – heck, he faltered not a jot as he sacked Michael Gove, the Minister charged with levelling up.

The Owen Patterson affair and partygate saw Mr Johnson drag his office through the mud, and he became the first sitting Prime Minister to be convicted of a criminal offence.

And then, just when we thought he could sink no lower, it emerged that he had engaged in the effective cover-up of an alleged sexual offence with the Chris Pincher scandal.

This proved the last straw for his party. Cabinet members – some of whom have been in post for less than 24 hours – along with a raft of ministers are now turning their backs on him.

Yet, in a typical act of Johnsonism, he remains in Number 10, convinced he still has the authority to govern.

Mr Johnson may face a second vote of no confidence but, even if he were to do so, he could cling on to power for another few months.

This cannot be allowed to happen. This debacle has to end, for the sake of the country’s future and its standing worldwide.

Mr Johnson, for the first time in your political career, do the right thing, resign.

Why, given his character, the ignominious downfall of Boris Johnson was sadly inevitable - The Yorkshire Post says