How ‘herd instinct’ forced resignation of UK PM Johnson

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, quit as Conservative leader, yesterday, saying it is “clearly now the will” of Tory Members of Parliament (MPs) that there should be a new leader.

He criticised the decision to force him out as “eccentric”, saying a “herd instinct” at Westminster rejected his bid to stay on as party leader.

Johnson pledged to stay on as PM until a successor is chosen but a growing number of Tory MPs said he had to leave No 10, Downing Street, now.

Ex-Tory PM, John Major, said he could not remain in No 10 for the sake of the country, while Labour said he must go or they would try to bring a no-confidence vote in parliament.

Meanwhile, Johnson held a meeting with his new cabinet, after he replaced ministers who resigned.

James Cleverly become the third education minister in three days, while Robert Buckland was made Welsh Secretary.

Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, a possible leadership contender, who has remained silent for days, said her party should keep governing until a new leader is found.

The question on most people’s minds is who’ll be the next UK prime minister – and the list of potential candidates is lengthy.

Some new polling by YouGov, which saw more than 700 Conservative Party members surveyed, has Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as the clear favourite with 13 per cent of support. Minister of state for trade policy, Penny Mordaunt (12 per cent) followed closely.

However, also notable is the fact that 12 per cent of people voted for “none of the above” to take over as leader.

“It’s a very tight race for first and second place currently,” Patrick English, the associate director of YouGov’s political and social research team, told BBC.

He added that when researchers performed run-offs, to see which MPs would come out on top when whittling contenders down to the top two, Wallace came out on top against all others and by “huge margins – as big as 20 per cent over Rishi Sunak, over Liz Truss and over Jeremy Hunt.”