Boris Johnson steps down as UK Prime Minister

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to travel to Balmoral Castle, Scotland, today to officially tender his resignation with the Queen.

Following yesterday’s announcement of Liz Truss’s election by the Conservative Party, the Queen is expected to ask Truss to form a new government. This will make Truss the 15th prime minister during the Queen’s reign. She will have the difficult task of regaining the public’s trust in the Tory Party and steering the economy through a tough winter of soaring energy prices, double-digit inflation and a tanking pound sterling.

Boris Johnson came to fame as the man who promised to “get Brexit done”after winning the Conservative Party’s largest parliamentary majority in over 30 years. However, a series of scandals, including floundering his own government’s pandemic law to attend lockdown parties and repeatedly lying about his involvement on the matter, caused his popularity to plummet and eroded public trust in the Conservative Party’s ability to govern.

Still, apart from being the first sitting prime minster to be fined for breaking the law, he will also be remembered for his resolute support to Ukraine. Britain’s commitment to provide funding and training to Ukraine’s military may have regained the country some trust on the international stage, but Truss will likely test the EU’s good will on outstanding issues related to Brexit.