Boris Johnson resigns as UK prime minister
Boris Johnson has announced his resignation as UK prime minister after less than three years in Number 10, saying: "No one in politics is remotely indispensable", Sky News reports.
Speaking from Downing Street, he thanked the millions of people who voted Conservative at the last election, and said the reason he fought so long to remain in office was because "I thought it was my job, my duty and my obligation to you".
He said he had tried to persuade his cabinet it would be "eccentric" to change prime minister now, but added: "I regret not to have been successful in those arguments.
"At Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves."
Mr Johnson confirmed the process to appoint a new leader would begin now, with a timetable set out next week.
Yet it is still not clear exactly when he will leave Number 10 for the final time.
There had been intense pressure on the PM to quit after more than 50 resignations from the government payroll, and waves of backbenchers appealing for him to go.
The mass rebellion began on Tuesday after Downing Street admitted the PM knew about allegations of inappropriate behaviour against disgraced former Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher in 2019, but still appointed him in February and sent ministers out to defend him.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were the first to resign on Tuesday night, but over the past 48 hours, MPs from all levels of government piled in their letters and demands for him to go.
Mr Johnson initially insisted he was staying in post, with a source inside Number 10 saying just this morning that he planned to "fight on".