UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will resign as conservative Party leader, after losing support of his ministers and Members of Parliament.
A 10 Downing Street source has confirmed that Johnson is expected to announce his resignation by the afternoon London time.
This will be preceded by a Conservative leadership contest, to appoint a new Prime Minister in time for the party conference in October.
This comes as multiple ministers have resigned while attributing this to Johnson’s government of leadership.
Senior members of his cabinet, including chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, have since urged him to resign and leave with dignity.
“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,” Zahawi said in a letter to Johnson. “You must do the right thing and go now.”
Education Secretary Michelle Donelan, who was also appointed on Tuesday following the resignation of her predecessor, announced her resignation Thursday morning.
A group of Johnson’s most trusted Cabinet ministers visited him at his office in Downing Street Wednesday, telling him to stand down after losing the trust of his party.
But Johnson instead opted to fight for his political career and fired one of the Cabinet officials, Michael Gove.
Five cabinet ministers had quit by Thursday and more than 50 officials have left since the latest scandal broke.
Johnson is accused of lying about not knowing about groping allegations against a man whom he appointed as a senior government minister.
Weeks earlier Johnson narrowly survived a no-confidence vote from his own Conservative party.
“We are… past the point of no return. I cannot sacrifice my personal integrity to defend things as they stand now,” Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said in his resignation letter.