The first reactions to Boris Johnson’s resignation

Boris Johnson announced this afternoon that he is resigning as Prime Minister of Britain, pressured by demands from his cabinet colleagues and Conservative MPs.

Here are some early reactions from British and foreign officials to his resignation announcement.

Liz Truss, Secretary of State

“The prime minister made the right decision.” “We need calm and unity now and continue to govern while a new leader is sought.”

Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labor Party

“It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister.

But that should have happened a long time ago. He was always unfit for office. He was responsible for lies, scandals and fraud on a large scale.”

Justin Tomlinson, deputy leader of the Conservative Party

“His resignation was inevitable. As a Party we must quickly come together and focus on what matters. He was living in serious times on many fronts.”

Alistair Jack, Minister for Scotland

“I’m sorry to see Boris Johnson resign as Prime Minister. He achieved great work while he was Prime Minister, including getting Brexit done, supporting the country through Covid and leading the international response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Most importantly worked tirelessly to strengthen the UK”.

Kwazi Kwarteng, Minister of Energy Business and Industrial Strategy

“What a depressing situation. So much unnecessary damage caused.

“We now need a new Leader as soon as possible. Someone who can rebuild trust, heal the country and set out a new, sensible and consistent economic approach to help families.

Nicola Sturgeon, Prime Minister of Scotland

“Will there be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (essentially months) will be over, although the idea of ​​Boris Johnson remaining Prime Minister until the autumn seems far from ideal and certainly not sustainable?”

Michael O’Neill, Leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland

“It was the absolute absurdity that people here put up with Boris Johnson for so long. He is a person of utter disrepute. Anyone who tries to sabotage our peace deals, a quarter of a century of progress and our shared future is not really our friend.”

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman

“He doesn’t like us and we don’t like him either.”

Maria Zakharova, representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

“Boris Johnson was hit by a self-launched boomerang…His comrades surrendered”.

“The moral of the story is: don’t seek to destroy Russia… Russia cannot be destroyed. You can break your teeth trying – and then drown.”

Representative of the European Commission

“For our part, the political developments do not change our position on the (Northern Ireland) protocol or the way we work with our British counterparts on Northern Ireland.”

“Our position is that we have to look for solutions in terms of the implementation of the protocol.”