of pretty relentless few months of pretty relentless sledging, and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally. i regret not to be successful in those arguments and of course it is painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself, but as we have seen at westminster, the herd instinct is powerful. when the herd moves, it moves. and, my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable. and our brilliant and darwinian system will produce another leader equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times, notjust helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things, cutting burdens on businesses and families and, yes, cutting taxes, because that is the way to generate the growth and income we need to pay for great public services. and to that new

leader i say, i will give you as much support as i can, and do you, the british public, i know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few you will also be disappointed, and i want you to know how sad i am to be giving up the bestjob in the world. but anthony selden —— them's the breaks. i want to thank carrie and my children who had to put up with so much for so long and the peerless british civil service for all of the help and support you have given the police, emergency services and the fantastic nhs who, at critical moments, helped extend my own period in office, as well as our armed services and agencies that are so admired around the world, and our

indefatigable conservative party members and supporters for their selfless campaigning which makes our democracy possible. i want to thank the wonderful staff at chequers and here at number ten and of course at chequers, and ourfantastic force here at number ten and of course at chequers, and our fantastic force of detectives, the one group who never leave. above all, i want to thank you, the british public for the immense privilege that you have given me, and i want you to know that, from now on until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served, and the government of the country will be carried on. being prime minister is an education in itself. i have travelled to every part of the united kingdom and, in addition to the beauty of our natural world, i found so many people possessed of

such boundless british originality and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways, that i know that, even if things can sometimes seem dark now, ourfuture that, even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden. thank you all very much. thank you. is golden. thank you all very much. thank vom— is golden. thank you all very much. thank yon-— thank you. let's head live to westminster _ thank you. let's head live to westminster and _ thank you. let's head live to westminster and our - thank you. let's head live to| westminster and our political correspondentjonathan blake. an correspondent jonathan blake. an extraordinary correspondentjonathan blake. an extraordinary day. let's start with that issue of how long borisjohnson will stay in downing street. john major saying it was unwise and unsustainable for him to remain until the new leader is elected. how many conservative mps in the party agree with the former prime minister?— agree with the former prime minister? ., . ., , ., minister? some of them certainly do. debate has raged _ minister? some of them certainly do. debate has raged throughout - minister? some of them certainly do. debate has raged throughout the - minister? some of them certainly do. debate has raged throughout the day| debate has raged throughout the day since borisjohnson made it clear he had agreed to stand down. the histology that we have seen towards

him coming from his own mps and his own ministers in the past couple of days, and more broadly over the last few weeks and months, did not subside, and we have seen significant voices from inside the parliamentary party. one previous prime minister, sirjohn major, saying that borisjohnson should not stay in office even now while the contest to replace him plays out. it is certainly not in borisjohnson's nature to step down immediately and hand over to some sort of interim figure who would take charge before a new leader is chosen and that would be unusual in the uk, the last two prime minister is david cameron and theresa may stayed in office as prime minister whilst the success of his chosen so what is likely is that we will see a conservative party leadership contest shortened from its normal six weeks or so that it took the last time round, to choose a new leader, and if at all possible the party will want to get someone

in place by the end of august or the beginning of september. but we will not find out exactly what the timetable is that has been agreed until the beginning of next week. i'll come back to that contest in a moment. let's reflect on the statement. no apologies, no self reflection about probity, integrity or truth telling, was there? there was no apology — or truth telling, was there? there was no apology and _ or truth telling, was there? there was no apology and it _ or truth telling, was there? there was no apology and it was - or truth telling, was there? there was no apology and it was a - or truth telling, was there? there | was no apology and it was a pretty defiant speech from boris johnson that we heard this morning at westminster. he made it clear that he didn't want to go and was only going because he really had no other option. he took us through the arguments he had made to his cabinet ministers in the last day or so who had gone through to see him and tell him the time is up, he needed to resign. he didn't apologise. he did not, in the words of one former minister i spoke to earlier, did not show any humility, or properly offer his resignation, just accepted that

a new leader needed to come in. so, i think that was perhaps characteristic of borisjohnson's leadership and, as one mp put it to me today, a bitter critic of boris johnson for some time, the speech proved him right, even at this point, in their eyes. he did not show the necessary humility or offer any apologies for the way he has governed all the way he has gone about his premiership, which has brought him to this point. let’s brought him to this point. let's talk about _ brought him to this point. let's talk about the _ brought him to this point. let's talk about the leadership - brought him to this point. let's talk about the leadership race. liam fox earlier on the bbc spoke about vanity projects from some of his colleagues, who are already manoeuvring, but in terms of the frontrunners, who are you on? it is a very open — frontrunners, who are you on? it is a very open field. _ frontrunners, who are you on? it 3 a very open field. this has been one issue with votes in the conservative party and those who wanted to get rid of borisjohnson for some time. what has held them back and slow them down is the fact that there is no one, clear successor.

them down is the fact that there is no one, clearsuccessor. but, them down is the fact that there is no one, clear successor. but, we are waiting to hear from no one, clear successor. but, we are waiting to hearfrom rishi sunak, the former chancellor, who until recently would have been seen as a front runner, but he ran into difficulty over his wife's tax affairs, he was given a fine for breaking lockdown laws as part of the partygate saga. but i think we can still expect him to run although he has not formally declared. there is also the four —— foreign secretary liz truss, favoured by a lot of conservative party members beyond parliament, out across the uk. and there are other figures, beyond parliament, out across the uk. and there are otherfigures, the former health secretary sajid javid his resignation a couple of days ago triggered this extraordinary sequence of events that brought us to boris johnson's sequence of events that brought us to borisjohnson's resignation speech outside number ten earlier today. the attorney general sabella braverman, the top law officer in the government has been the only one to formally declare her candidacy. she won't be seen as a frontrunner but it does mean that the field will be at least to begin with, fairly

open. be at least to begin with, fairly oen, �* ., ., ., be at least to begin with, fairly oen. , ., ., ., ,-,:: be at least to begin with, fairly oen. �* ., ., ., ,’:ffi , , be at least to begin with, fairly oen.-, ., ., ,’:ffi , , ., open. jonathan, 30 seconds or lea . open. jonathan, 30 seconds or legacy- well. _ open. jonathan, 30 seconds or legacy. well, he _ open. jonathan, 30 seconds or legacy. well, he got _ open. jonathan, 30 seconds or legacy. well, he got brexit - open. jonathan, 30 seconds or i legacy. well, he got brexit done, the bi legacy. well, he got brexit done, the his promise _ legacy. well, he got brexit done, the big promise he _ legacy. well, he got brexit done, the big promise he made - legacy. well, he got brexit done, the big promise he made in - legacy. well, he got brexit done, the big promise he made in 2019| legacy. well, he got brexit done, - the big promise he made in 2019 when he ran for election, taking over from theresa may, who had become mired in process and bogged down in trying to get a deal through parliament without a parliamentary majority. so that, ultimately, i think will be what borisjohnson is remembered for, but also the way that he went about governing, breaking convention at every turn, doing things differently, and perhaps also he will be remembered for hanging on until the bitter end, and even when he was told to go, trying to stay in office and trying to keep going with what he still sees, i think, to keep going with what he still sees, ithink, is to keep going with what he still sees, i think, is a to keep going with what he still sees, ithink, is a mandate to keep going with what he still sees, i think, is a mandate to govern. sees, i think, is a mandate to covern. , ., ., ., �* ., ~ sees, i think, is a mandate to covern. , ., ., ., �* .,~ ., govern. jonathan blake at westminster, _ govern. jonathan blake at westminster, thanks - govern. jonathan blake at westminster, thanks very j govern. jonathan blake at - westminster, thanks very much. govern. jonathan blake at _ westminster, thanks very much. and we have heard in the last hour or so reaction from president biden. plenty more here on the bbc after

another dramatic day here at westminster. coming up next, outside source with roz atkins. thank you for watching. he will not be there by the conservative party conference, we will have a new leader. to a degree, it's not a matterfor

i'm ros atkins, i'm live with you from downing street. borisjohnson has been forced out by his own party — he'll stand aside as leader and as prime minister once his successor is chosen. after a string of further government resignations first thing this morning, he made the announcement in downing street surrounded by family and colleagues. i want you to know how sad i am to be giving up the bestjob in the world. but them's the breaks. mrjohnson made clear he'd wanted to stay in office — but was left with no choice but to go.

as but to go. we have