12.38pm – So there you have it. The Prime Minister has stepped down as Conservative Party leader but will remain Prime Minister until that process is completed.
Will it be October or will the party move swiftly as in 2017 when Theresa May was crowned?
“I want you to know how sad I am at giving up the greatest job in the world, but them’s the breaks”
“When the hurd moves it moves, no one in politics is indispensable.”
“It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of the party and therefore a new prime minister” – Prime Minister Boris Johnson
12.31pm – BREAKING: PM CONFIRMS HE WILL DEPART DOWNING STREET WHEN A NEW CONSERVATIVE LEADER APPOINTED
12.23pm – The lectern is in Downing Street, the speech is imminent. But the question remains, just what will the PM say?
12.19pm – Shailesh Vara has been made Northern Ireland Secretary, Downing Street has confirmed.
12.18pm – Prime Minister Boris Johnson to speak at 12.30pm
11.58am – And just when you think today cannot be any more crazy. Labour is now planning to table a vote of no confidence in the Government if the Prime Minister seeks to remain in post until the Autumn.
11.48am – BREAKING: James Cleverly is the new Education Secretary, Greg Clark is the new Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary and Robert Buckland is the new Welsh Secretary
11.13am – It would appear the PM IS intending to stay around until the Autumn with several cabinet appointments being made at the moment. Will any of those who have resigned be tempted back?
10.57am – BREAKING: PM’s statement expected around midday according to several sources
10.32am – Does the PM have a mandate from the people as his allies claim? Well yes and no.
It can be in no doubt millions voted Conservative in the 2019 General Election to, in the words of Boris Johnson, ‘Get Brexit Done’, sweeping the PM into power with an 80 seat majority.
HOWEVER
We don’t vote for a Prime Minister directly, we vote locally for an MP. If enough of any party’s MPs are elected then the leader of such party is asked to go to Buckingham Palace and ask Her Majesty the Queen for permission to form a Government.
10.17am – It’s expected Boris Johnson will continue as PM until a new Conservative Party leader and therefore PM is appointed
Can he? Yes, there is no reason why he cannot remain in the post. David Cameron remained Prime Minister until the election of Theresa May as the party’s new leader and she remained at Number 10 until the election of Boris Johnson by the party
10.06am – How did we get here? It appears the row over the appointment of Chris Pincher as a Government whip and Number 10’s briefing on what the Prime Minister knew and when has been the final straw for many of the MPs. Certainly the resignation letters of Mr Walker and Mrs Maclean referred to ‘recent events’
What’s your view, do tweet me at @RGObserver or e-mail [email protected]
9.57am – Amid the clamour for members of the cabinet to resign, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace offered a much-needed dose of reality.
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. In the meantime,the public would not forgive us if we left these Offices of State empty.
— Rt. Hon Ben Wallace MP (@BWallaceMP) July 7, 2022
9.55am – A number of ministers joined the list of those declaring they have no confidence in the Prime Minister but perhaps the most extraordinary contribution came from Nadhim Zahawi who called on Boris Johnson to go. Zahawi was only appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on Tuesday evening
Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country. You must do the right thing and go now. pic.twitter.com/F2iKT1PhvC
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) July 7, 2022
9.51am – The PM – who has been under intense pressure to quit since the first Cabinet walkouts on Tuesday – said on Wednesday that he intended to ‘keep going’ in the role, however it appears the pressure may have been too much.
HELLO and welcome to our live blog on the day the Prime Minister is expected to announce his resignation.
It’s been a torrid 36 hours in British politics with more than 50 MPs resigning from their positions including Worcester MP Robin Walker and Redditch MP Rachel Maclean