Following a tumultuous few months which were preceded by a scandal-plagued tenure, Johnson announced he would step down from his position as Conservative party leader.

In a stunning turn of events overnight, after he had been adamant he would stay and fight, Johnson gave a speech outside Downing Street announcing his decision, according to CNN.

“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,” he began.

“I’d 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.”

“So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voted Conservative, for the first time. Thank you for that incredible mandate. The biggest Conservative majority, since 1987,” he added.

It’s a remarkable downfall for a Prime Minister who won a landslide victory in 2019. He delivered on a campaign promise to lead the country through a “Brexit” out of the European Union, but recent scandals proved too much.

Most notably, over 50 members of his government quit en masse and issued a letter denouncing Johnson’s leadership. The Opposition Labour party pledged to bring another vote of no confidence if he refused.

This story is developing and will be updated as new information becomes available.

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