Boris Johnson Had Historic Mass Resignation Under His Watch

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation on July 7 following a mass ministerial resignation under his watch, one of the largest in modern British history.

More than 50 members of Johnson's government, including senior figures and key allies, have resigned over the past 48 hours, citing Johnson's poor handling of allegations against a former member of parliament.

A chart from The New Statesman on Twitter showed that Johnson led the largest mass ministerial resignation since 1979. At least 26 are shown on the chart, although the number has grown since the time of publication.

Johnson originally vowed to keep fighting as prime minister while slews of calls for his own resignation came, but by Thursday morning, he decided to step down as well.

On the steps of 10 Downing Street on Thursday, Johnson said, "It is clear now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister, and I've agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench M.P.s, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week. And I've today appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until the new leader is in place."

The historic mass resignation follows allegations against Christopher Pincher, a Conservative member of parliament who served as the party's deputy chief whip.

Pincher resigned on June 30 after he was accused of groping two men, and calls for Johnson's resignation came after it emerged that the prime minister had been made aware of the incident in 2019. Johnson later said that appointing Pincher as deputy chief whip earlier this year "was the wrong thing to do."

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who was only appointed on Tuesday, said that the situation was "not sustainable and will only get worse" on Twitter on Thursday.

"But the country deserves a Government that is not only stable, but which acts with integrity. Prime Minister, you know in your heart what the right thing to do is, and go now," he said to Johnson in a letter posted on Twitter.

Johnson's Conservative Party is now to decide whether he will be allowed to stay in Downing Street and remain prime minister until a new leader is selected, although some are already arguing that he should leave immediately following his resignation.

Newsweek reached out to the UK Parliament for additional comment.

Correction 7/7/22, 2:32 p.m. ET. Removes incorrect reference to Nadhim Zahawi resigning