UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign after mutiny in his party

Boris Johnson is on Thursday following a rebellion in his Conservative Party and is expected to address the nation in the coming hours.

"The Prime Minister will make a statement to the country today," a Downing Street spokesman told CNN.

Johnson has become engulfed in a that forced even his most stalwart supporters to abandon him.

More than 50 lawmakers have resigned from the government since Tuesday, furious about the botched handling of the resignation by Johnson's former deputy chief whip, Chris Pincher, who was accused of groping two men last week.

Johnson initially attempted to ride out the crisis -- despite an unprecedented flight of middle-ranking ministers from the government, a battering at Prime Minister's Questions and a bruising appearance before a committee of senior lawmakers in Parliament. On Wednesday, he still insisted he wasn't going to resign.

But Johnson appears finally to have given in on Thursday after some of his most loyal allies told him that the game was up.

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, said it was "good news for the country" that Johnson had decided to resign, adding that "it should have happened long ago."

"He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale," said Starmer on Twitter.

The opposition leader also had scathing words for the Conservatives. "They have been in power for 12 years. The damage they have done is profound. Twelve years of economic stagnation. Twelve years of declining public services. Twelve years of empty promises," Starmer said.

"Enough is enough. We don't need to change the Tory at the top -- we need a proper change of government. We need a fresh start for Britain."

'Needless damage'

Three more members of the government resigned as the news broke that Johnson intended to stand down, bringing the total to 59.

Caroline Johnson and Luke Hall, deputy chairs of the Conservative Party, and Rob Butler, a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) at the Foreign Office, announced their resignations in letters to the Prime Minister.

Earlier Thursday, the UK's Northern Ireland Secretary, Brandon Lewis, became the fourth cabinet member to leave his post. Newly appointed Education Secretary Michelle Donelan then became the fifth to quit the cabinet.

While Johnson will announce his resignation as Conservative Party leader, it is possible that he will remain as Prime Minister until October, when the party meets for its annual conference.

Conventionally, when a Conservative leader resigns, he or she gives the party time to hold a thorough leadership contest.

But some say that Johnson should leave office more quickly.

"What a depressing state of affairs. So much needless damage caused," Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said on Twitter.

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

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also called for the leadership question to be settled.

"There will be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end, though notion of Boris Johnson staying on as PM until autumn seems far from ideal, and surely not sustainable?" Sturgeon said in a series of tweets.

Barrage of criticism

Johnson's departure will mark a remarkable downfall for a Prime Minister who was once seen as having political superpowers, with an appeal that transcended traditional party lines.

He won a landslide victory in December 2019 on the promise of delivering a Brexit deal and leading the UK to a bright future outside the European Union. But his premiership unraveled in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In recent months the Prime Minister has faced a barrage of criticism from all sides over his conduct and that of some members of his government, including illegal, Covid-19 lockdown-breaking parties thrown in his Downing Street offices for which he and others were fined.

Numerous other scandals have also hit his standing in the polls. These include accusations of using donor money inappropriately to pay for a refurbishment of his Downing Street home and ordering MPs to vote in such a way that would protect a colleague who had breached lobbying rules.

Last month, he survived a confidence vote among members of his own party, but the final count of his lawmakers who rebelled against him was higher than his supporters expected: 41% of his own parliamentary party refused to back him.

He suffered a further blow late last month when his party lost two parliamentary by-elections in a single night, raising new questions about his leadership.

His reputation was also dented by the resignation of his second ethics adviser in less than two years.

The-CNN-Wire