Boris Johnson to quit as UK prime minister

Boris Johnson succumbed to a party rebellion on Thursday telling the Conservative party he would stand down as leader and hand over to a successor.

Mr Johnson decided to leave Downing Street as he haemorrhaged support across the Tory ranks after he was hit by torrent of resignations from his government in less than 24 hours.

Officials said Mr Johnson had spoken to Tory 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady and agreed to stand down, with a new Tory leader set to be in place by the party conference in October. In the meantime the incumbent would run the country as a caretaker, under the UK political conventions.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace added his name to the clamour for his exit, warning that national security demands made it impossible for him to join the exodus. "A number of us have an obligation to keep this country safe, no matter who is PM. The Party has a mechanism to change leaders and that is the mechanism which I advise colleagues to use," he said. "In the meantime, the public would not forgive us if we left these Offices of State empty."

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