Boris’s resignation speech will trouble Tory MPs

Boris Johnson has just given a bitter resignation speech that makes clear he is not going anywhere until a new leader is in place. He has set up a betrayal narrative, pointedly thanking the British public – but not his own party – for his time in office and saying it would be ‘eccentric’ to change leader when the Conservative party is only a few points behind Labour in the polls.

There was no space to thank colleagues in government when he listed the work he was proud of and the projects he had hoped to see through to their conclusion. It was centred around him, not the collective effort, or indeed the Conservative party. Given that many MPs turned against him this week because they feared his position as Prime Minister presented an existential threat to the party itself, it will have underlined to many of them why he needs to go as quickly as possible.

It is still Johnson’s plan to stay on as leader until a successor is found, and the PM promised he would give that person ‘all the support I can’, which doesn’t sound very generous.