LONDON -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday after droves of top government officials quit over the latest scandal to implicate him, marking an end to his three-year reign.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters and onlookers at the lectern outside 10 Downing Street, Johnson said, "It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister."
Johnson did not become emotional, nor did he apologize for the behavior that brought the 58-year-old politician to this point.
Instead, he blamed his party for his downfall, comparing his fellow lawmakers to stampeding animals. "As we have seen at Westminster ... when the herd moves, it moves. And my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable," Johnson said.
Johnson paid tribute to his wife, Carrie, who was watching his speech with their young daughter in her arms. Johnson said they had been through "so much," but he did not signal any of it was his fault.
"I know there are many people who are relieved, and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them's the breaks," Johnson said.
Johnson stepped down as Conservative Party leader but said he would remain as prime minister until the party chooses his successor. The timetable for that process was set to be announced next week. The last leadership contest took six weeks.
But many want him to go now, with some Conservative politicians expressing fear he could do mischief even as a caretaker prime minister.
"It's very difficult to see how Boris Johnson, given the character that he is, is going to be able to govern for three months in quiet humility and contrition," said George Freeman, who resigned as science minister on Thursday.
Although it is not uncommon in British politics for a prime minister to stay on until the selection of their successor -- Theresa May remained in place for about two months in 2019 -- some lawmakers and party grandees warned that Johnson was soiling the party brand and that he was too damaged to stay in office through the summer.
"The proposal for the prime minister to remain in office -- for up to three months -- having lost the support of his cabinet, his government and his parliamentary party is unwise, and may be unsustainable," wrote former Prime Minister John Major.
Dominic Cummings -- Johnson's former top aide and now chief critic, who helped his boss win the Brexit referendum and get elected -- warned that the prime minister needed to go now. In a tweet, he urged the Conservative Party to "Evict TODAY or he'll cause CARNAGE."
Cummings said Johnson even now is "playing for time" and will try to stay on if he's allowed to remain in office until the fall. "He doesn't think it's over," he said, speculating that Johnson is plotting and thinking, "'I can still get out of this, I got a mandate, members love me, get to September.'"
Among the possible candidates to succeed Johnson: former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
About 50 Cabinet secretaries, ministers and lower-level officials quit the government over the past few days because of the latest scandal, often castigating the prime minister as lacking integrity.
The mass resignations stalled the business of some parliamentary committees because there were no ministers available to speak on the government's behalf.
Johnson clung to power for days, telling lawmakers on Wednesday that he had a "colossal mandate" from the voters and intended to get on with the business of governing.
But he was forced to concede defeat Thursday morning after one of his closest allies, newly appointed Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi, publicly told him to resign for the good of the country.
"In the last few days, I tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we're delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate," Johnson said. "I regret not to have been successful in those arguments, and of course it's painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself."
Many Britons reacted to news of his resignation with relief and surprise, given his habit of digging in.
"It felt like he can just keep on going and keep on ignoring it, so I was bit surprised this morning when saw it on my phone," Himmat Dalyway, an investment trader in his 20s, said outside an Underground station in London. "Are you still 100% sure that he is going?"
As Johnson gathered his cobbled-together Cabinet for a meeting after his resignation announcement, he promised not to rock the boat in his remaining weeks. He told members the government would not "seek to implement new policies or make major changes of direction."
It was a defeat for Johnson, who not only pulled off Brexit but was also credited with rolling out one of the world's most successful mass vaccination campaigns to combat covid-19.
But the leader known for answering his critics with bombast and bluster was also dogged by allegations he behaved as if the rules did not apply to him.
He managed to remain in power despite accusations that he was too close to party donors, that he protected supporters from bullying and corruption allegations, and that he misled Parliament about government office parties that broke covid-19 lockdown rules.
When allegations of Downing Street parties emerged, Johnson told lawmakers "there was no party" and no rules were broken. But when photos of the prime minister raising a glass in front of a group of people surfaced, critics, some of them inside the Conservative Party, said Johnson had lied to Parliament -- traditionally a resigning matter.
The prime minister was fined by police over the parties and survived a no-confidence vote last month in Parliament in which 41% of Conservative lawmakers tried to oust him.
Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, succeeding May, who resigned after Parliament rejected the Brexit agreement she negotiated with the EU. Johnson pushed his own Brexit deal through in an often messy debate.
SHIFTING STORY
Recent disclosures that Johnson knew about sexual misconduct allegations against a Conservative lawmaker before he promoted him to a senior position in government proved to be irreparably damaging.
The crisis began when Chris Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip amid accusations that he had groped two men at a private club. That triggered a series of reports about past allegations against Pincher.
Johnson offered shifting explanations about what he knew and when he knew it. That just heightened the sense that the prime minister couldn't be trusted.
Key Cabinet members Javid and Sunak, who were responsible, respectively, for fighting covid-19 and inflation, resigned within minutes of each other Tuesday. That set off the wave of departures by their colleagues.
Now with a leadership election upon them, the Conservatives will have to decide whether they can stomach Johnson as a caretaker leader, a job that normally entails saying little and doing nothing.
"To be honest, I think a lot of the public will want to see him gone straightaway," said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London. "You know, they don't want to see him hanging around like a bad smell in Downing Street."
FOREIGN REACTION
Johnson's resignation brought on various reactions from his European neighbors.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin told reporters the relationship between Britain and his country "has come under strain" during Johnson's tenure and that the prime minister's resignation is "an opportunity to return to the true spirit of partnership and mutual respect."
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, who wants her nation to seek independence outside of the United Kingdom, tweeted that "people across the UK need and deserve better -- especially now -- than a badly written soap opera."
Johnson has been cheered in Ukraine even while becoming increasingly unpopular in Britain, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telephoned on Thursday to express his "sadness" over the British leader's resignation, according to a government readout.
Meanwhile, Moscow's ambassador to Britain, Andrei Kelin, told Reuters that Johnson "concentrated too much on the geopolitical situation, on Ukraine," while ignoring his country's economic problems. Russia "would prefer someone who is not so antagonistic or belligerent," he added.
Information for this article was contributed by Danica Kirka, Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui of The Associated Press and Karla Adam and William Booth of The Washington Post.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson reads a statement outside 10 Downing Street, London, formally resigning as Conservative Party leader, in London, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Johnson said Thursday he will remain as British prime minister while a leadership contest is held to choose his successor. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson enters 10 Downing Street, after reading a statement in London, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Johnson said Thursday he will remain as British prime minister while a leadership contest is held to choose his successor. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks to media next to 10 Downing Street in London, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to resign, his office said Thursday, ending an unprecedented political crisis over his future that has paralyzed Britain's government. An official in Johnson's Downing Street office confirmed the prime minister would announce his resignation later. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A wax figure of Prime Minister Boris Johnson from Madame Tussauds Blackpool stands outside the Job Centre Plus in Blackpool, Lancashire, Britain. Thursday July 7, 2022. British media say Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to resign on Thursday, ending an unprecedented political crisis over his future. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
FILE - Vote Leave campaigner Boris Johnson arrives for a press conference at Vote Leave headquarters in London Friday, June 24, 2016. British media say Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to resign on Thursday, July 7 2022, ending an unprecedented political crisis over his future. (Mary Turner/Pool via AP, File)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson reads a statement outside 10 Downing Street, London, formally resigning as Conservative Party leader, in London, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Johnson said Thursday he will remain as British prime minister while a leadership contest is held to choose his successor. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks to media next to 10 Downing Street in London, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to resign, his office said Thursday, ending an unprecedented political crisis over his future that has paralyzed Britain's government. An official in Johnson's Downing Street office confirmed the prime minister would announce his resignation later. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
FILE - Britain Conservative Party MP, Boris Johnson, left, speaks to the media to launch his campaign as a candidate to be the Mayor of London, outside City Hall in central London, Monday, July 16, 2007. British media say Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to resign on Thursday, July 7 2022, ending an unprecedented political crisis over his future. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in London on Thursday after announcing that he would resign as British prime minister but stay on while a leadership contest is held to choose a successor. More photos at arkansasonline.com/78johnson/. (AP/Alberto Pezzali)
Carrie Johnson, wife of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, holds their daughter Thursday as Johnson reads a statement outside 10 Downing Street in London. Holding her hand at left is Minister of State Nigel Adams. (AP/Frank Augstein)Gallery: U.K.'s Boris Johnson announces resignation
