‘Them’s the breaks… no one is remotely indispensable’

Mr Johnson told the British public: “I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them’s the breaks.”

He acknowledged that “in politics, no one is remotely indispensable” as he announced his resignation as Tory leader.

He had tried to persuade his Cabinet it would be “eccentric” to change Prime Minister now but “I regret not to have been successful in those arguments”.

The outgoing Prime Minister said he was “immensely proud of the achievements of this Government”, from getting Brexit done to getting the UK through the pandemic, and leading the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.