Boris Johnson will resign as prime minister today

Boris Johnson will resign as the prime minister today, it has now been confirmed.

It follows days of cabinet reshuffles, resignations and firings, which have now made his position untenable.

It all began on Tuesday evening, when Rishi Sunak quit as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Sajid Javid resigned as Health Secretary.

Since then there have been a large number of resignations – as it stands, 55 MPs have resigned – with numerous close allies telling Johnson he needs to stand down.

Number 10 / Flickr

This included his new Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, who was only appointed to the role on Tuesday evening before calling on Johnson to quit this morning, Thursday July 7th.

Now a senior government source has told both Sky News and BBC News that Boris Johnson will resign today, with the BBC saying a new prime minister will be in place in autumn.

Over the summer a Conservative leadership race will take place so that a new prime minister can be selected by the Tory party conference in October.

A Number 10 spokesman said: “The prime minister will make a statement to the country today.”