BORIS Johnson today told The Queen he plans to RESIGN after a brutal Cabinet coup and flood of Tory resignations imploded his premiership.
The PM will tell the nation in an address that he is quitting and a new Tory leader will be in post by the party conference in October.
This morning he gave Her Majesty a “courtesy call” to let her know of his intention to quit. He does not need to go to the Palace until he actually steps down.
Trending In The News understands the PM will stay in post until October, at which point he will conduct an “orderly handover”.
But some Tory MPs say they want BoJo gone sooner.
They believe Deputy PM Dominic Raab should move in to No10 until a new Conservative leader has been chosen.
A source said: “Boris Johnson has spoken to Graham Brady and agreed to stand down as party leader so that a new leader can be in place by party conference. He will remain as PM until that point.”
In an assassination attempt with echoes of Thatcher’s removal, Cabinet members yesterday saw the PM individually to demand he quits.
This morning newly appointed Education Secretary Michelle Donelan quit her role after just 36 hours.
New Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi published a letter telling the PM it’s time to go.
It came after seven ministers quit before breakfast, meaning the overall number of resignations topped 50.
A race to replace Mr Johnson as Tory leader and British PM will now begin.
Big Conservative hitters like Rishi Sunak, Nadhim Zahawi, Liz Truss, Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt are all expected to have a tilt.
On a dramatic day in Westminster
- A “Quit Squad” of once Boris allies filed into his office to tell him to leave
- 54 Tory MPs resigned as government ministers or aides
- Suella Braverman became the first Tory to announce a leadership run
- Brexiteer Steve Baker also said he might put his name forward
- Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was only not resigning as he had a country to protect
Mr Johnson has been reeling from the Chris Pincher groping scandal first revealed by Trending In The News last Thursday.
The crisis climaxed in the past 24 hours when Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid both quit the Cabinet and called for him to go.
It fired the starting gun on a wave of ministerial resignations that has so far swelled to around 40 Tories.
Previously loyal Conservative backbenchers withdrew their support and demanded the PM steps down for the good of the party and country.
Until hours ago the PM was defiantly vowing to remain in post and even fight to win the next election.
He told the Commons: “The job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when he’s been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going – and that’s what I’m going to do.”
But Cabinet Ministers including Nadhim Zahawi, Grant Shapps and Simon Hart took matters into their own hands.
They waited for Mr Johnson to arrive back in No10 and then told him to quit.
Even ultra-loyalist Priti Patel turned to urge the PM throw in the towel after backbench support drained away.
Tory plotters had prepared to take matters into their own hands by changing the 1922 committee rules, but are now waiting for Monday.
Ex-Health Secretary Mr Javid attempted to deliver the fatal blow with a blistering resignation speech in the packed Commons.
The big beast said: “At some point we have to conclude that enough is enough. I believe that point is now.
“The reset button can only work so many times. There’s only so many times you can turn that machine on and off before you realise something is fundamentally wrong.”
More Conservative rebels stuck the knife in during PMQs and asked if there was anything that would make him resign.
Mr Johnson was elected as PM in 2019 on a wave of optimism and with a pledge to Get Brexit Done.
The PM was praised for winning Red Wall seats that for too long had been taken for granted by Labour.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was “good news” that Boris Johnson is resigning but added that “we don’t need to change the Tory at the top – we need a proper change of government”.
