UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson would make a public statement on Thursday, Downing Street said, after a BBC report he has agreed to resign, but wanted to stay on until a new leader is elected by the autumn.
Downing Street issued a statement saying: “The prime minister will make a statement to the country today.”
The report comes as more ministers continued to resign from Johnson’s government and newly-appointed Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi called on the prime minister to quit over his behaviour in relation to a sexual harassment scandal involving former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.
Johnson had stubbornly refused to go and claimed, falsely, that he had a personal mandate from the UK electorate.
After a days of drama that started with the resignations of former finance minister Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid on Tuesday, the prime minister ended Wednesday in a standoff with his own cabinet despite the departure of more than 40 ministers and aides and the sacking of Michael Gove, who had earlier told the prime minister in a face-to-face meeting that he believed his position was unsustainable.
The pressure continued to mount on Thursday morning when the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, became the latest to quit when he handed his resignation letter to No 10.
