Boris Johnson resigns as Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader

He appeared to blame the “herd instinct” of Westminster for his downfall as he confirmed he would step aside in front of Number 10 this afternoon, after dozens of resignations from his Government in the last 48 hours.

Downing Street has been hit by a slew of scandals in recent months, most recently questions over what the Prime Minister knew about allegations of inappropriate behaviour by his former Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher.

Mr Johnson pledged that he would remain in post until his successor has been decided on, however there have been calls throughout the morning for him to resign immediately and allow a caretaker figure to step in.

Announcing his resignation in Downing Street, he 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.

“And I’ve agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.

“And I’ve today appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.”

Following days of tension, Mr Johnson said he sought to stay on in Number 10 he felt it was his “obligation” to continue to do what the Tories promised in 2019.

“I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time, thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979,” he explained.

“And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

“And of course, I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this Government.”

Following more than 50 resignations in recent days, Mr Johnson suggested his arguments for staying in office had been rejected due to a "herd instinct" in Westminster and it had been "painful" that he could not deliver on all of his plans.

“I regret not to have been successful in those arguments," he said.

"And of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.

“But as we’ve seen, at Westminster the herd instinct is powerful, when the herd moves, it moves.

“And my friends in politics, no one is remotely indispensable and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.”

Before taking to the street in front of his world-famous front door, Mr Johnson had appointed a number of ministers to replace those who had resigned in recent days.

James Cleverly will now serve as Education Secretary and Greg Clark will be Levelling Up Secretary.