Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his farewell address outside the doors of 10 Downing Street as he prepared to tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II.
During his brief remarks, the former Conservative Party leader touted his work implementing Brexit legislation and the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the United Kingdom before departing London and heading to Balmoral, Scotland, where the queen is spending the summer. In his roughly 7-minute address, Johnson also urged Conservative Party members to get behind Britain’s new leader, Liz Truss.
LIZ TRUSS TO REPLACE BORIS JOHNSON AS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
“Well, this is it folks,” Johnson told the crowd from a podium outside Downing Street, where he emerged Tuesday alongside his wife for the final time.
“The torch will finally be passed to a new Conservative leader,” he said. “The baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race. They changed the rules halfway through, but never mind that now.”
“What I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for politics to be over, folks,” Johnson added. “It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team and her program.”
Johnson resigned as the Conservative Party leader in July after a turbulent time as Britain’s prime minister, which included the so-called Partygate scandal, during which investigations were opened to look into whether Downing Street staff members broke COVID-19 protocols by throwing parties during the pandemic when the country was in lockdown and whether Johnson lied to Parliament about them. The scandal led to a mass exodus of his staff, forcing his resignation.
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Truss will replace Johnson as prime minister after she defeated former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in a leadership contest for the Conservative Party on Monday.
Truss will become prime minister after meeting with the queen on Tuesday.
