British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned as Prime minister after a string of resignations from his top team in protest at his leadership. He said he would continue in office until a new Conservative leader is elected.
"The process of choosing a new leader should begin now. And today I have appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will until a new leader is in place," Johnson said outside 10 Downing Street.
"It is clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party, and therefore a new prime minister," Johnson said.
The leadership election will take place over the summer and the victor will replace Johnson at the party's annual conference in early October, the BBC and others reported.
He said he was "sad… to be giving up the best job in the world" and justified fighting on in the final hours to deliver the mandate he won in a general election in December 2019.
"His resignation was inevitable," Justin Tomlinson, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said on Twitter. "As a party, we must quickly unite and focus on what matters. These are serious times on many fronts."
Many said he should leave immediately and hand over to his deputy, Dominic Raab, saying he had lost the trust of his party.
Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said he would call a parliamentary confidence vote if the Conservatives did not remove Johnson at once.
"If they don't get rid of him, then Labour will step up in the national interest and bring a vote of no confidence because we can't go on with this prime minister clinging on for months and months to come," he said.