In a speech outside Downing Street on Thursday that was tinged with bitterness, he blamed ministers for turning against him but expressed no regret or remorse for his mistakes. The abrupt repeal has set off a row between the contenders to take over in Downing Street – and calls for some MPs to leave now rather than wait until the leadership election is over. Johnson told a new interim cabinet on Thursday afternoon that no major policy, tax decisions or other changes in direction would be made before handing over to a new leader. The day of drama in Westminster began with more of Johnson’s ministers resigning in a bid to force him out – including Michelle Donnellan, the education secretary who had taken the job just two days earlier. Johnson called Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, early Thursday morning, and walked out of No 10 at noon to publicly admit he had lost his party’s support. His premiership, which will last just three years, has been overshadowed by the devastating Covid crisis and marred by persistent allegations of hazing, which led to the resignation of two ethics advisers. But in his speech, delivered as his wife, Carrie, stood nearby holding their young daughter, Johnson called his colleagues’ decision to remove him “wacky,” suggesting they had been driven by a herd mentality. “For the last few days I have tried to convince my colleagues that it would be crazy to change governments when we offer so much and when we have such a huge mandate and when in fact we are only a few points behind in the polls. ” he said. “As we have seen at Westminster, the herd is strong and when the herd moves, it moves.” Johnson has not apologized for any of the self-inflicted scandals that have pushed his party against him, including hiring an alleged sex predator, Chris Pincher, as deputy leader. Instead, Johnson highlighted the “incredible mandate” his party won in the 2019 general election and policies including the availability of vaccines and the Brexit deal. His statement followed an extraordinary confrontation with his own cabinet. Late Wednesday night, his aides insisted he would stay and fight, despite a delegation of cabinet ministers urging him to leave, and dozens of top brass resigned. But as resignations topped 50 on Thursday morning, with even Nadhim Zahawi, appointed chancellor just two days earlier, publicly calling for him to go, Johnson agreed to step down. Johnson will remain in office until another prime minister is chosen. Zahawi has mounted a well-organized leadership campaign, advised by an ally of election guru Lynton Crosby. He has enlisted a number of MPs to back him, including a significant number who have resigned from the government in recent days, in an attempt to prove that he remained only in the national interest. Other candidates who called MPs during Thursday included Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, and Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, who both resigned on Tuesday. But MPs say another well-organized campaign belongs to Tom Tugendhat – now seen as the favorite of Tory moderates, ahead of Jeremy Hunt. Tugendhat has assembled a steering committee of backers and supporters that include former cabinet minister Damian Green and “red wall” MP Aaron Bell. Attorney-General Suella Braverman, whose campaign will be run by her former parliamentary private secretary, Jason McCartney, met with MPs from the right-wing Common Sense Group to win the mantle of the true Brexiter in the contest – which her supporters say she is. will attempt to steal from Sunak. Johnson will remain in place until the party chooses a new leader – a process the 1922 Committee hopes to complete as soon as possible. At the podium outside Downing Street, Johnson was “sad to leave the best job in the world” but “it’s the breaks”. The Prime Minister was pictured embracing his family inside No 10 after his speech, holding his son Wilfred as he kissed Carrie, who was holding their nine-month-old daughter Romy. Former prime minister Sir John Major intervened to call for Johnson to step down immediately – but several Tory moderates, including Greg Clark and Robert Buckland, agreed to serve in a caretaker cabinet, helping MPs to allow Johnson to remain in his post . Labor leader Keir Starmer said his party would table a motion of no confidence in the government in the House of Commons if Johnson did not resign immediately. “He must go: he cannot be stuck like this. His own party has now decided that he is not fit to be prime minister. They cannot now impose him on the country for the next few months,” he said. “If they don’t get rid of him then Labor will step up, in the national interest, and bring a vote of no confidence because we can’t go on with this prime minister hanging on for months and months.” The proposal is expected to be voted on next week. The government is almost certain to win, given the Tories’ comfortable majority – but Labor will hope to gain political capital by forcing MPs to back Johnson in the voting lobbies. The cabinet reshuffle took place in the last hour before Johnson’s resignation speech, with James Cleverley taking over as education secretary and long-time loyalist Keith Malthouse becoming chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Buckland will be Welsh secretary and Clarke will take on the job of rising, replacing Michael Gove, who was ruthlessly sacked by Johnson late on Wednesday night as he fought to save his prime ministership. The new cabinet met on Thursday afternoon. An official readout said Johnson “made it clear that the government will not seek to implement new policies or make major changes of direction, but will focus on delivering the agenda on which the government was elected. He said important fiscal decisions should be left to the next prime minister.” A dozen more junior appointments were announced later Thursday, with some of those who resigned earlier in the week taking back their old jobs. Among them was youth minister Will Quince, who resigned after being sent to confront the media with false information about what Johnson knew about Pincher’s past. Even government insiders were surprised at the speed of Johnson’s eventual demise, after months of demoralizing scandals including Partygate and the failed attempt to protect MP Owen Paterson, who was found to have engaged in paid lobbying. One warned that if Johnson did not agree to leave, however, he risked “going Trumpian.”
