No new policies until next PM announced, says Johnson
Boris Johnson told his cabinet the government would now focus on the agenda on which it was elected, and not seek to implement new policies or make major changes of direction.
In a statement, No 10 said:
The prime minister opened cabinet by welcoming those returning or joining for the first time.
He said his priority would now be to continue delivering on manifesto pledges and making sure the government is on the side of the public, on the cost of energy, transport and housing and all else that matters to them.
He made clear the government would not seek to implement new policies or make major changes of direction, rather it would focus on delivering the agenda on which the government was elected.
He said major fiscal decisions should be left for the next prime minister.
Members of cabinet were said to have paid tribute to Johnson, thanking him for his service.
They highlighted achievements including delivering Brexit, the vaccine rollout, supporting people with the cost of living and his global leadership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, No 10 said.
On another momentous day, Boris Johnson announced his resignation but said he wants to stay on as prime minister until the Conservative Party elects a new leader despite senior figures including Lord Michael Heseltine and Sir John Major calling for him to go immediately.
Johnson told his cabinet the government would now focus on the agenda on which it was elected, and not seek to implement new policies or make major changes of direction.
A timetable for succession is set to be announced by the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs next week. According to polling of Conservative party members by YouGov, Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, is in the best position to succeed Johnson.
Conservative backbencher Tom Tugendhat has become the first contender to throw his hat into the ring to succeed Boris Johnson.
Grant Shapps has been backed by his junior minister Robert Courts on BBC’s Newsnight to become Tory leader.
Sir Keir Starmer has warned that if Johnson does not step down immediately, Labour would table a vote of no confidence in the government in Parliament
The hastily-assembled new team of ministers has been announced including the return of Will Quince as an education minister, having quit two days ago. Johnny Mercer MP is to be a Minister of State (Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) at the Cabinet Office while Sir Robert Buckland is the Welsh secretary.
Robert Courts, the aviation minister, told Newsnight: “Because of the challenges the country has, because we’re still pulling out of the pandemic and cost of living issues, I think we need someone who has experience and someone able to campaign and deliver.
“Someone like Grant Shapps, my boss, I’ve seen him work at close quarters and I think he has done an outstanding job.
“Or someone like Ben Wallace who has got a lot of experience as well.”
Former health secretary Matt Hancock has declared he will not be running in the Conservative leadership election.
Speaking outside the Spectator summer party, he told journalists: “No, I’m not going to stand, but I care deeply that it’s somebody who will deliver for people, and will really make sure that the Conservative party is there to get through difficult times.” Asked if he thought Johnson was the right person, he said: “Yes of course, because the most pressing day-to-day problem is making sure we support our friends in Ukraine, and he, of course, has done that brilliantly.”
Conservative peer Michael Heseltine believes Boris Johnson should leave office straight away.
The former deputy prime minister says there is a “lack of trust” in Johnson.
“Leaving him in a position where he can use the power of the premiership to suit his own causes and his own interests is a very dangerous thing to do,” he told the BBC.
Boris Johnson spoke to Ukraine’s president following his resignation.
I spoke to President @ZelenskyyUa earlier to reiterate the UK's unwavering support for Ukraine – we will supply vital defensive aid for as long as it's needed.
Tom Tugendhat announces he will enter leadership race
Conservative backbencher Tom Tugendhat has become the first contender to throw his hat into the ring to succeed Boris Johnson.
The chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, who has never served in government, said he would offer the party a “fresh start”.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: “I am putting together a broad coalition of colleagues that will bring new energy and ideas to government and, finally, to bridge the Brexit divide that has dominated our recent history.
“I have served before – in the military, and now in parliament. Now I hope to answer the call once again as prime minister. It’s time for a clean start. It’s time for renewal.”
Even before Boris Johnson delivered his ill-tempered exit speech, Conservative MPs’ focus had already switched to who might succeed him – and unlike in 2019, when he had been the prince across the water for months, this time there is no obvious successor.
He still performs strongly in polling – not least because he is better known than many of his potential rivals – but after the furore over his US green card, and with some Tories irritated by the rising tax burden on his watch, he now appears much less of a slam dunk.
That lack of an overwhelming favourite is part of the reason a whole slew of candidates, from Grant Shapps to Jake Berry, have not ruled out a tilt at the top job (and, incidentally, helped Johnson to hang on for longer).
Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire Andrew Bridgen said he has spoken to Sir Graham Brady and urged him to shorten the process to replace Boris Johnson.
He told the PA news agency: “I have spoken with Sir Graham Brady and urged him to truncate, wherever possible, the leadership election process.
“I think we will have two candidates out of the parliamentary party to present the membership before recess. And that will be no more than three or four weeks.
“So by the end of August we will have a new leader of the Conservative Party. So Boris Johnson’s estimate that he’ll still be prime minister in October is wildly inaccurate.”
Bridgen added he was unsure who he was backing to be leader, but added it needed to be a Brexiter and a “proper Conservative from the right of the party”.
Boris Johnson’s government will not try to implement new policies while the Conservatives choose a new leader, the prime minister has told his cabinet, deepening concerns over paralysis in the aftermath of his resignation announcement.
The prime minister, who has pledged to step aside, said he will not introduce “major changes of direction” including tax decisions over the coming weeks as Tory MPs and party members run an election for his replacement.
Labour said the government’s programme has been effectively frozen by the implosion of the last three days, when more than 50 ministers resigned in fury at Johnson. Dozens of junior ministerial positions remain unfilled and bills have not been scrutinised, Labour claimed.
Conservative MP for Ashford Damian Green said he was backing Tom Tugendhat to be the next leader of the party.
He told the PA news agency: “I’m supporting Tom Tugendhat. We need a clean start, a fresh start, we need to get on with resetting the Conservative party and resetting government more widely in this country so that it gets back to being properly run, observing the conventions, supporting the institutions that we have in this country.”
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