British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Wednesday night resisting pressure to step down despite a parade of Cabinet colleagues telling him the party wanted him out.
Mr Johnson, 58, told his closest supporters that dozens of resignations ― including the late-night departure of a third Cabinet member, Welsh Secretary Simon Hart, and announcement of a leadership challenge from his attorney general ― from his government would not lead to him quitting and that it was a choice between a summer focused on economic growth or the chaos of a leadership contest.
He then dismissed the veteran Cabinet minister Michael Gove and announced a new reshuffle.
By succumbing to pressure, he also predicted a new leader would be forced to call a general election.
Allies said Mr Johnson would "fight on" and launch new economic policies within days.
The Labour Party was considering a motion of no confidence in the House of Commons on Thursday to push the Conservative party rebels and test the government's majority.
Mr Gove, who, like Mr Johnson is a former newspaper columnist, teamed up with the prime minister to campaign for Brexit in the referendum.
He was sacked by Theresa May when she took power after the shock result but returned to the front line in the Johnson team in 2019.
Mr Gove was appointed education secretary in 2010 when the coalition took over from Labour.
The BBC reported a Downing Street source who said the sacking of Mr Gove was a purge of those who were disloyal.
“You cannot have a snake who is not with you on any of the big arguments who then gleefully briefs the press that he has called for the leader to go," the official was quoted as saying.
“You cannot operate like that.”
Attorney General Suella Braverman later joined the calls for the prime minister to quit as she launched a bid to replace him.
Previously a Johnson loyalist, she told ITV that he had handled matters “appallingly” in recent days and that “the balance has tipped now in favour of saying that the prime minister ― it pains me to say it ― but it’s time to go”.
Ms Braverman said it was her duty to continue in her current role, but said: “If there is a leadership contest, I will put my name into the ring.”
Mr Hart quit on Wednesday night, following in the footsteps of former Cabinet colleagues Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid ― who departed a day earlier.
In his resignation letter, Mr Hart said that he wanted to help Mr Johnson “turn the ship around”, but “we have passed the point where this is possible”.
As rumours swirled earlier in the day, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart were among the Cabinet ministers telling Mr Johnson to stand down.
Resignations were rumoured around Westminster in tandem with the reshuffle news.
Ms Patel spoke to Mr Johnson to convey the “overwhelming view” of the parliamentary party, code for saying that he did not have enough support.
Reports even suggested that Nadhim Zahawi, who was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer only on Tuesday, was among those taking part in the showdown with Mr Johnson.
Leaving the confrontation in Downing Street, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said ministers were still backing Mr Johnson.
Asked as she left Downing Street, if she still supported Mr Johnson, she said: “Definitely." And asked if others were backing him, Ms Dorries replied: “Oh yes."
Greg Hands, a junior minister with responsibility for energy, said Mr Johnson would not quit until most of the Cabinet had stepped down.
"I think the majority of the government has not resigned, the majority of government is carrying on and we will have to see what happens at the top, yeah," Mr Hands said.
Asked how he could continue to serve in a government hit by scandal, he said: "Because I have got a job to do, to deliver on energy and climate change, and that's exactly what I am going to be carrying on doing."
Throughout the day, Mr Johnson gave a spirited defence of his position on the floor of parliament on Wednesday after losing dozens more colleagues, including Sajid Javid, the health secretary, and chancellor Rishi Sunak.
By Wednesday night the tally of those bailing out had reached 42.
“This week again, we have reason to question the truth and integrity of what we've all been told and that at some point we have to conclude that enough is enough,” Mr Javid said. “I believe that point is now.”
The UK leader had already replaced Mr Sunak with Mr Zahawi and vowed to fight on despite being assailed by a set of ministerial departures.
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Boris Johnson has had an eventful time during his life in politics and journalism. Here, 'The National' looks back at his life in pictures. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson attends the coronation ceremony of Britain's King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in May. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson leaves his home to attend a televised evidence session in March in front of the Commons Privileges Committee. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson listening to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall in February. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and Carrie Johnson arrive at Westminster Abbey for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson he announces his resignation as prime minister outside 10 Downing Street in July 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson at a press conference in response to the publication of the Sue Gray report into Partygate at Downing Street in May 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson reads the long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into the Downing Street party scandal, in his Downing Street office in May 2022. Photo: Downing Street -
Mr Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in central Kyiv in April 2022. The British prime minister paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. AFP -
Mr Johnson watches an early morning police raid on a home in Liverpool as part of an operation to thwart drug dealing, in December, 2021. Getty Images -
The prime minister battles with his umbrella while with Prince Charles at The National Memorial Arboretum in July 2021, in Stafford, England. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and his wife before the Uefa European Championship final between Italy and England at Wembley Stadium, London, in July last year. Getty Images -
The British prime minister with US President Joe Biden, European Council President Charles Michel, former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi during the G7 Summit in Cornwall, in June 2021. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson with his wife Carrie in the garden of 10 Downing Street after their wedding at Westminster Cathedral, in May last year. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson visits Hartlepool after Conservative Party candidate Jill Mortimer won a parliamentary by-election in May, 2021. Getty Images -
The prime minister after receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at St Thomas' Hospital in London in March, 2021. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson after signing a Brexit trade deal with the EU in December 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson examines a vial of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 candidate vaccine, at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wrexham, Wales, in November 2020. Getty -
Mr Johnson demonstrating the two-metre distancing rule during his visit to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Upminster, East London, in August 2020. PA -
In this photo, published alongside the Sue Gray report into the Partygate affair, Mr Johnson is seen at a gathering in the Cabinet Room in 10 Downing Street on his birthday in June, 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and former chancellor Rishi Sunak use hand sanitiser during a visit to the Pizza Pilgrims restaurant in June 2020, in east London, to see how they are getting their business ready to reopen as coronavirus lockdown restrictions were lifted in England. PA -
Mr Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds applaud key workers outside 10 Downing Street in May 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson in the Cabinet Room observing a minute's silence in April 2020 in a tribute to the health staff and key workers who died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA -
Boris Johnson appears on monitors for a meeting in March 2020. The prime minister chaired morning meetings on the coronavirus remotely from Number 11 Downing Street, while self-isolating after testing positive for the virus. Reuters -
Members of a family listen as BMr ris Johnson makes a televised address to the nation from 10 Downing Street in March 2020, where he outlined the latest instructions to stay at home to help contain the Covid-19 outbreak. AFP -
Mr Johnson speaks to British troops stationed in Estonia during a one-day visit to the Baltic country in December 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and Carrie Symonds enter Downing Street as the Conservatives celebrate a sweeping election victory in December 2019. Getty -
Boris Johnson is greeted by staff at 10 Downing Street after meeting Queen Elizabeth II and accepting her invitation to form a new government in December 2012. PA -
Former US president Donald Trump and Mr Johnson arrive for a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in August 2019 in Biarritz, France. Getty -
The queen welcomes Mr Johnson as the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, during an audience in July 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson, then Britain's foreign secretary, stands in front of St Basil's Cathedral during a visit to Moscow's Red Square in December 2017. Getty -
Mr Johnson collides with a child during a Street Rugby tournament in Tokyo in 2015, held to mark Japan hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup -
As mayor of London Mr Johnson competes in a tug-of-war in October 2015. Getty Images -
The Olympic Flag is passed from Mr Johnson to IOC President Jacques Rogge during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Getty Images -
Mayor of London Boris Johnson with Prime Minister David Cameron during the lighting of the Paralympic Cauldron in Trafalgar Square, in August 2012. PA -
Boris Johnson gets stuck on a zip-line during a BT London Live event in Victoria Park in August 2012. Getty -
Mr Johnson and Lord Sebastian Coe cheer as a giant set of Olympic rings is displayed from Tower Bridge in June 2012, Getty Images -
Mr Johnson gestures attends a Harry Potter studio tour of Diagon Alley, at the Warner Brother Studios, London, in December 2011. AP Photo -
Mr Johnson at the launch of London's first cycle hire scheme in July 2010. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson with artists' impressions of the design for London's new Routemaster bus in May 2010. Getty Images -
The candidates to be mayor of London; Labour's Ken Livingstone, Conservative Boris Johnson and Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick, being questioned on BBC's 'Newsnight' programme in April 2008. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson on the North Pier in Blackpool during the Conservative Party conference there in October 2005. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson at his desk in 2000 while he was a journalist for 'The Telegraph'. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson when he was president of the Oxford Union society speaking to the Greek minister for culture Melina Mercouri when she addressed the union. Reuters -
Boris Johnson in September 1979, at Eton School. Shutterstock
Enough is enough
In a particularly brutal swipe, Mr Javid accused Mr Johnson of sending ministers out to publicly lie for him.
“I also believe a team is as good as its team captain and a captain is as good as his or her team,” he said.
“It’s not fair on ministerial colleagues to go out every morning defending lines that don’t stand up and don’t hold up.”
Mr Javid suggested he had been disturbed by what was going in Number 10 in recent months.
“Effective governance inevitably requires loyalty and collective responsibility, of course it does, and I am instinctively a team player and I have completely focused on governing effectively over the last year,” he said.
“But treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months.”
Conservative MP David Simmonds said the prime minister should go because the “message has been very clear from colleagues”.
On a backbench 1922 Committee meeting, Mr Simmonds said there was near unanimity.
“There was one person I can think of [who thought he should stay] but other than that, no. I think it was a pretty strong view across the piece.”
He said there were quite a few “good candidates” to replace Mr Johnson as leader.
