Boris Johnson has announced that he will step down as leader of the Conservative Party and remain PM until a successor is chosen

Boris Johnson resigned as leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party on Thursday after pressure from more than 50 cabinet members and senior officials to resign, but will stay on as prime minister until a successor is chosen.

Speaking publicly at Downing Street, he said Conservative MPS had made it clear that new leadership was needed. He said the election of a new party leader should begin now, with a timetable for the process to be announced next week.

He also said he would give his full support to whoever ends up as prime minister.

Britain’s prime minister is held by the leader of the governing party, so Mr Johnson’s resignation today means he will finally step down as prime minister. But there are calls within the Conservative Party for him to step down as prime minister as well.

In the past six months, Mr Johnson has had to face a vote of no confidence in his own party after being rocked by the “party gate” scandal amid the coronavirus pandemic. He survived a vote of no confidence, but the latest Revelations of sexual harassment by Conservative MPS were the last straw for his political integrity.

Mr. Johnson acknowledged that he had been informed of sexual harassment allegations against Chris Pincher, a Conservative MP, in 2019 but appointed him deputy whip. He apologized for it.

That triggered a string of resignations from key cabinet ministers in the ruling Conservative government, including Finance minister Rishi Sunak, the prime minister’s right-hand man; Shin Weicheng) and Sajid Javid, the health secretary; Javid).

Given a choice between loyalty and integrity, I chose integrity, Health Secretary Javid said in a resignation letter in Parliament.

Johnson’s resignation quickly became news in countries around the world.

“Johnson really doesn’t like us, and we don’t like him,” said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Peskov said he wanted Mr. Johnson’s successor to “act professionally” and “take decisions through dialogue.”

Russian foreign ministry spokesman Maria zaha ROM Eva (Maria Zakharova) tells a reporter, Johnson is “shooting themselves in the foot,” said Johnson’s ouster moral of the story is | “don’t try to destroy Russia”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has had a close relationship with Johnson since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, called Johnson after he announced his resignation. Officials in Kiev said the Ukrainian leader expressed his “sadness” at Johnson’s departure.

“Not only me, but the whole of Ukraine sympathizes with you,” Zelensky said. Zelensky also thanked Johnson for his “decisive action” to help Ukraine.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, also praised the outgoing British prime minister in a statement: “We will always remember his visit to Ukraine in the still dark hours of April. Johnson was a man who was fearless and prepared to take risks for a cause he believed in.”

But his adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, thanked Mr. Johnson on Twitter for “being the first to Kiev despite missile attacks” and for “always being at the forefront of supporting” Ukraine.